Thanks for all your reviews! And no, I'm still not going to make it a N/S
shippage, no matter how much you beg me. (But don't worry! I've got
another story up my sleeve that's all N/S) (
****************************************************
"Mom, Dad? What are you doing here?" Sara demanded as she stuck her head out of the Tahoe's door.
"Well, dear," Mrs. Sidle explained, "Gilbert said that you had a baby and that we should come see you."
Nick, who had walked around the SUV and beside Sara, asked her in a stage whisper, "Who's Gilbert?"
"Grissom," Sara answered loud enough for her parents to hear, "but they won't call him Gil because they're convinced that it was shorted from Gilbert and that it isn't a proper name."
"Well, it isn't," her mother protested. "It's quite outlandish."
"And this is coming from the woman who renamed herself 'Meadow Flower' when she went hippie," Sara explained softly to Nick.
Mrs. Sidle, who did not know the man who was standing beside Sara, asked in her best motherly 'are you keeping something from me' tone, "Honey, is this your husband?"
Sara turned beet red, and instead of answering, dodged the question with, "Maddie's going to want to get out of the car." As she turned around Maddie wailed, wanting to get out of her restraints.
Her mother and father nodded their approval. "At least she's able to be a good mother," her father noticed as he and his wife turned their attention to Nick.
Nick, also uncomfortable with the scrutiny that was being directed at him, introduced himself while Sara was busy with Maddie. "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Sidle. I'm Nick Stokes and I work with Sara at the crime lab." Sara's parents were about to ask their questions but he beat them to the punch. "And no," he continued, "I am not Sara's husband, and I am not Maddie's father." The Sidles, minus Sara, visibly slumped at that piece of information.
"Oh," Mrs. Sidle responded dejectedly.
Her husband, beginning where she left off, continued, saying, "We were hoping for Sara to get married and have a baby so that we would have something to look forward to, since her brother, Mark died a while back in a car accident, and she's our only hope for a future." Nick had to fight not to grin at the melodramatic tone the older man used.
"Oh," Nick replied, "My condolences."
"If you really wanted to console us, you'd have married our daughter by now," Mrs. Sidle accused.
"Oh. . ." Nick trailed off, unable to come up with a suitable response.
"Mom!" Sara exclaimed, "How many times do you have to bring that up? You said that to Robby, and then to Michael, then to Matthew. And let's not forget Hank. Now you're doing it to Nick, and he isn't even going out with me! Remember you promised not to beg them to marry me anymore?"
"Honey. . ." Mr. Sidle began, but he never finished, because Sara cut him off again.
"Look, mom, dad, I know you mean well and all, but can you please, please, just drop the issue?" As if to punctuate her frustration, Maddie wailed again.
As everyone but Sara covered their ears, she yelled out, "She's wet, so if you want to come in, be my guest. I have to change her diaper."
"I best be going," Nick also called out, "Mandy," he stressed the name, "will be wondering where I am."
"Okay," Sara answered, "Thank you!" And Nick knew that included showing her parents that they weren't in any kind of romantic relationship.
"Bye!" Nick turned around long enough to see Sara's parents' shoulders slump once more in defeat.
***************************************
"So who's the father?" Mrs. Sidle demanded through the closed bedroom door.
"What?" Sara asked distractedly.
"I said, 'Who is the father?'."
"Alex Carmichael. And before you ask, Alison is her mother. They both died as a result of a car accident and Alison left Maddie in my care."
"Oh, I see, and may I ask why?" Mrs. Sidle asked politely, worried that her daughter might blow up at her for implying that she was unfit to raise a child.
"Michael's parents, as far as I know, are both dead, and he doesn't have any siblings, and Alison's parents disowned her when she married Michael before she got her college degree."
"And what does this have to do with little Maddie?" her mother inquired.
"When they disowned her, Alison's parents acted like they didn't know that she existed, and they refused to even look at the pictures Alison sent them of Maddie in the mail."
"How can parents be that cruel?" Mrs. Sidle wondered out loud.
"By not trying to make it better, I guess," Sara replied, as she stepped through the door with a satisfied Maddie.
************************************
"Where's the fire?" Grissom wondered as Sara practically flew into the break room.
"My place," Sara answered sarcastically. At Grissom's quizzical glance, she continued, "Why did you have to call my parents?"
"I thought that you needed the support," he replied simply.
"Calling in my parents is not what I would call 'support'!" Sara exclaimed in frustration.
Grissom put down the forensic magazine he was reading and, looking apologetic, said, "I'm sorry. I should have asked you first."
"Yes, you should have. Have you forgotten that my parents were ex-hippies, all the way down to the pot? And afterwards, when they owned the B and B they had no motivation whatsoever? They call you Gilbert because they don't think Gil is a real name, for goodness sakes! That should be more than enough proof that they would not be good 'support'!" By that time, Grissom had begun clutching the magazine to his chest, as though to protect himself from an impending attack from the outraged Sara.
"I know, I know, and I'm so sorry," Grissom managed to choke out, "I'll do anything to make it up to you."
"Anything?"
"Anything."
"Great. You can let them stay at your place for the rest of their stay."
Wrongly thinking that the Sidles weren't going to be staying for more than a few days, Grissom readily agreed, saying, "Done. By the way, how long are they planning to stay?"
"About a month. I'll tell them to start packing, they'll be going somewhere more spacious," Sara grinned as she pulled out her phone. Grissom sat there motionless, unable to do anything as Sara arranged for her parents to move to his place.
"Why? Why? Why?" Grissom asked himself out loud, smacking himself in the head with the folded magazine, "Sara, how did you get me to agree to that? I can't stand to be in the same room as them for anymore than ten minutes."
"It's called the guilt trip, Grissom. You've employed that tactic many times, remember?"
His smart retort was interrupted by Warrick and Catherine who had witnessed his self-abuse walking into the room with concerned frowns on their faces. "Grissom," Warrick began as he and Catherine entered the room, "are you all right?"
"No."
"Why not?" Catherine asked with a bewildered tone.
"I just made a deal with the devil." And with that confusing statement, Grissom left the break room in the hope of seeking solace and peace in his office.
"Huh?" was all Catherine managed to vocalize after she was floored by Grissom's very un-Grissom statement.
Sara just shrugged, gathered up the stray paperwork, and headed to the filing office with Maddie and baby accessories in hand.
*********************************************
"Knock, knock," Nick called softly as he peeked into the office where Sara usually did her paperwork. When the usual "Come in," wasn't replied, he opened the door only to find Sara Sidle, the woman who never slept, slumped over the desk, out like a light. "I guess your mommy didn't sleep yesterday either," he said to the unusually placid baby in the playpen. In typical Maddie fashion, she held up her arms, expecting to be picked up. Nick, more than willing to comply, promptly did so, only to notice that she was beginning to have the slight frown she usually wore before an outburst. "Oh, no, baby, don't do that," he begged. Maddie didn't comply. She wailed.
"Wha-?" Sara asked as she was jolted awake. "Oh, Maddie, right, I didn't mean to fall asleep on you honey." She was directing her statement at the playpen, and seeing that her daughter wasn't there, she became tense and adrenaline coursed through her veins. She jumped up right into Nick.
"Whoa, hold in there, cowgirl," Nick called over the wailing child he was attempting to soothe, "It's all right, Maddie just decided that she still doesn't like me." Maddie wailed even louder to prove her point.
"Nick Stokes," Sara replied, her heart rate back to normal, "You are able to sweet talk any grown woman but you can't calm a baby down? Will wonders ever cease?" She gave him a wink to show that she was joking as Maddie twisted around in his arms, sensing that her mother was near and she wanted to be with her instead on Nick.
"What can I say? I'm gifted in some areas, but baby sitting is not one of them."
"That's good to know. At least my parents won't be too disappointed that you're not Maddie's father." Maddie wailed again.
Warrick came sprinting through the door like a man on a mission. "We can hear that baby from the floor above!" he exclaimed, "Here, give her to me. She wants to pull some hair or bite some fingers." As soon as Sara did as he instructed, Maddie quieted down, squealing with glee, as Warrick tried not to grimace too much from the pain.
"Now there's someone who I wouldn't mind telling my parents is Maddie's father," Sara joked.
*******************************************
No! Once again I will say that there will be no N/S, W/S, or G/S or any other type of pairing, so please, review, but just know that this is meant to be a no-ship piece and don't read top deep into the last part of that chapter. . .
Please review!!
And I humbly apologize to everyone who wants some sort of N/S thing and don't worry iheartcsi, the G/C tangent isn't going to go too far. I promise to make it up to all of you in my next story.
****************************************************
"Mom, Dad? What are you doing here?" Sara demanded as she stuck her head out of the Tahoe's door.
"Well, dear," Mrs. Sidle explained, "Gilbert said that you had a baby and that we should come see you."
Nick, who had walked around the SUV and beside Sara, asked her in a stage whisper, "Who's Gilbert?"
"Grissom," Sara answered loud enough for her parents to hear, "but they won't call him Gil because they're convinced that it was shorted from Gilbert and that it isn't a proper name."
"Well, it isn't," her mother protested. "It's quite outlandish."
"And this is coming from the woman who renamed herself 'Meadow Flower' when she went hippie," Sara explained softly to Nick.
Mrs. Sidle, who did not know the man who was standing beside Sara, asked in her best motherly 'are you keeping something from me' tone, "Honey, is this your husband?"
Sara turned beet red, and instead of answering, dodged the question with, "Maddie's going to want to get out of the car." As she turned around Maddie wailed, wanting to get out of her restraints.
Her mother and father nodded their approval. "At least she's able to be a good mother," her father noticed as he and his wife turned their attention to Nick.
Nick, also uncomfortable with the scrutiny that was being directed at him, introduced himself while Sara was busy with Maddie. "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Sidle. I'm Nick Stokes and I work with Sara at the crime lab." Sara's parents were about to ask their questions but he beat them to the punch. "And no," he continued, "I am not Sara's husband, and I am not Maddie's father." The Sidles, minus Sara, visibly slumped at that piece of information.
"Oh," Mrs. Sidle responded dejectedly.
Her husband, beginning where she left off, continued, saying, "We were hoping for Sara to get married and have a baby so that we would have something to look forward to, since her brother, Mark died a while back in a car accident, and she's our only hope for a future." Nick had to fight not to grin at the melodramatic tone the older man used.
"Oh," Nick replied, "My condolences."
"If you really wanted to console us, you'd have married our daughter by now," Mrs. Sidle accused.
"Oh. . ." Nick trailed off, unable to come up with a suitable response.
"Mom!" Sara exclaimed, "How many times do you have to bring that up? You said that to Robby, and then to Michael, then to Matthew. And let's not forget Hank. Now you're doing it to Nick, and he isn't even going out with me! Remember you promised not to beg them to marry me anymore?"
"Honey. . ." Mr. Sidle began, but he never finished, because Sara cut him off again.
"Look, mom, dad, I know you mean well and all, but can you please, please, just drop the issue?" As if to punctuate her frustration, Maddie wailed again.
As everyone but Sara covered their ears, she yelled out, "She's wet, so if you want to come in, be my guest. I have to change her diaper."
"I best be going," Nick also called out, "Mandy," he stressed the name, "will be wondering where I am."
"Okay," Sara answered, "Thank you!" And Nick knew that included showing her parents that they weren't in any kind of romantic relationship.
"Bye!" Nick turned around long enough to see Sara's parents' shoulders slump once more in defeat.
***************************************
"So who's the father?" Mrs. Sidle demanded through the closed bedroom door.
"What?" Sara asked distractedly.
"I said, 'Who is the father?'."
"Alex Carmichael. And before you ask, Alison is her mother. They both died as a result of a car accident and Alison left Maddie in my care."
"Oh, I see, and may I ask why?" Mrs. Sidle asked politely, worried that her daughter might blow up at her for implying that she was unfit to raise a child.
"Michael's parents, as far as I know, are both dead, and he doesn't have any siblings, and Alison's parents disowned her when she married Michael before she got her college degree."
"And what does this have to do with little Maddie?" her mother inquired.
"When they disowned her, Alison's parents acted like they didn't know that she existed, and they refused to even look at the pictures Alison sent them of Maddie in the mail."
"How can parents be that cruel?" Mrs. Sidle wondered out loud.
"By not trying to make it better, I guess," Sara replied, as she stepped through the door with a satisfied Maddie.
************************************
"Where's the fire?" Grissom wondered as Sara practically flew into the break room.
"My place," Sara answered sarcastically. At Grissom's quizzical glance, she continued, "Why did you have to call my parents?"
"I thought that you needed the support," he replied simply.
"Calling in my parents is not what I would call 'support'!" Sara exclaimed in frustration.
Grissom put down the forensic magazine he was reading and, looking apologetic, said, "I'm sorry. I should have asked you first."
"Yes, you should have. Have you forgotten that my parents were ex-hippies, all the way down to the pot? And afterwards, when they owned the B and B they had no motivation whatsoever? They call you Gilbert because they don't think Gil is a real name, for goodness sakes! That should be more than enough proof that they would not be good 'support'!" By that time, Grissom had begun clutching the magazine to his chest, as though to protect himself from an impending attack from the outraged Sara.
"I know, I know, and I'm so sorry," Grissom managed to choke out, "I'll do anything to make it up to you."
"Anything?"
"Anything."
"Great. You can let them stay at your place for the rest of their stay."
Wrongly thinking that the Sidles weren't going to be staying for more than a few days, Grissom readily agreed, saying, "Done. By the way, how long are they planning to stay?"
"About a month. I'll tell them to start packing, they'll be going somewhere more spacious," Sara grinned as she pulled out her phone. Grissom sat there motionless, unable to do anything as Sara arranged for her parents to move to his place.
"Why? Why? Why?" Grissom asked himself out loud, smacking himself in the head with the folded magazine, "Sara, how did you get me to agree to that? I can't stand to be in the same room as them for anymore than ten minutes."
"It's called the guilt trip, Grissom. You've employed that tactic many times, remember?"
His smart retort was interrupted by Warrick and Catherine who had witnessed his self-abuse walking into the room with concerned frowns on their faces. "Grissom," Warrick began as he and Catherine entered the room, "are you all right?"
"No."
"Why not?" Catherine asked with a bewildered tone.
"I just made a deal with the devil." And with that confusing statement, Grissom left the break room in the hope of seeking solace and peace in his office.
"Huh?" was all Catherine managed to vocalize after she was floored by Grissom's very un-Grissom statement.
Sara just shrugged, gathered up the stray paperwork, and headed to the filing office with Maddie and baby accessories in hand.
*********************************************
"Knock, knock," Nick called softly as he peeked into the office where Sara usually did her paperwork. When the usual "Come in," wasn't replied, he opened the door only to find Sara Sidle, the woman who never slept, slumped over the desk, out like a light. "I guess your mommy didn't sleep yesterday either," he said to the unusually placid baby in the playpen. In typical Maddie fashion, she held up her arms, expecting to be picked up. Nick, more than willing to comply, promptly did so, only to notice that she was beginning to have the slight frown she usually wore before an outburst. "Oh, no, baby, don't do that," he begged. Maddie didn't comply. She wailed.
"Wha-?" Sara asked as she was jolted awake. "Oh, Maddie, right, I didn't mean to fall asleep on you honey." She was directing her statement at the playpen, and seeing that her daughter wasn't there, she became tense and adrenaline coursed through her veins. She jumped up right into Nick.
"Whoa, hold in there, cowgirl," Nick called over the wailing child he was attempting to soothe, "It's all right, Maddie just decided that she still doesn't like me." Maddie wailed even louder to prove her point.
"Nick Stokes," Sara replied, her heart rate back to normal, "You are able to sweet talk any grown woman but you can't calm a baby down? Will wonders ever cease?" She gave him a wink to show that she was joking as Maddie twisted around in his arms, sensing that her mother was near and she wanted to be with her instead on Nick.
"What can I say? I'm gifted in some areas, but baby sitting is not one of them."
"That's good to know. At least my parents won't be too disappointed that you're not Maddie's father." Maddie wailed again.
Warrick came sprinting through the door like a man on a mission. "We can hear that baby from the floor above!" he exclaimed, "Here, give her to me. She wants to pull some hair or bite some fingers." As soon as Sara did as he instructed, Maddie quieted down, squealing with glee, as Warrick tried not to grimace too much from the pain.
"Now there's someone who I wouldn't mind telling my parents is Maddie's father," Sara joked.
*******************************************
No! Once again I will say that there will be no N/S, W/S, or G/S or any other type of pairing, so please, review, but just know that this is meant to be a no-ship piece and don't read top deep into the last part of that chapter. . .
Please review!!
And I humbly apologize to everyone who wants some sort of N/S thing and don't worry iheartcsi, the G/C tangent isn't going to go too far. I promise to make it up to all of you in my next story.