"Uh, Sara . . ."
"Yeah, what Cath? Come on!"
"It would probably be good for you to put on a shirt first."
Sara looked down and verified that she was indeed still half-naked. "Oops." Grabbing the shirt dangling from her locker's hook, she tugged it on and quirked a smile. "Are pregnant women more ditzy, or is that just me?"
"Just you," Catherine said with a grin. "Now let's get out of here before anyone else catches you like this." She turned and headed for the door with Sara only a step behind her. They stopped long enough for Sara to leave Grissom a note saying she was going to breakfast with Catherine, then headed for the nearest pharmacy.
Thirty minutes later . . .
"Mmm, I'm just gonna lay down for a little bit while we wait, Cath," Sara muttered, eyes already half closed.
Catherine cast an incredulous look at the woman curled up on her couch. They were waiting for the results of Sara's pregnancy test, and the girl was just going to take a nap while they waited for perhaps the most important information of her life? "Sara, who can sleep at a time like this?!"
"Tired. Wake me up in ten minutes," was Sara's response, and then only a gentle snoring.
Catherine shook her head in bemusement. Well, Sara had never done anything the traditional way, why expect her to start now? Also, the girl never slept, and Catherine knew that fatigue was an important sign of pregnancy.
She started to bite her thumbnail nervously, then forced herself to stop. Sara, the prospective mother, was happily asleep and snoring . . . and Catherine, the helpful friend, was the one too nervous to think? She had to stop herself from laughing out loud and waking Sara when that thought hit her. Now this was an interesting role reversal! Sinking down into an easy chair, she set her kitchen timer for ten minutes and laid her head back against the cushions.
Sara woke up within seconds when the timer rang shrilly ten minutes later. Or, at least, she half-woke up, enough to amuse Catherine with her muttering. "Turn it off, Gris. Five more minutes . . ."
With a snort, the older woman stood up and shook Sara's shoulder. "Wake up, Sidle," she said sternly. "Time to check that little stick that'll determine the rest of your life."
That got Sara up. She shot to a sitting position and stared at Catherine. "Oh god, I thought it was a dream . . . is it really ten minutes?
"Yep. Get up, into the bathroom, check it out."
With a sigh, Sara did as ordered, walking as slowly as possible. Catherine, still on edge, waited in the living room. When there was no sound from the bathroom after five minutes, she started to wonder if Sara had passed out and headed for the open bathroom door.
Sara hadn't passed out; she was leaning against the counter with the test in one hand, staring at it.
"Sara?" Catherine asked gently. "What does it say?"
"It says I . . . uh . . ." Seemingly unable to say the words, Sara turned the stick toward Catherine.
"Oh my god. You're going to have a baby, Sara! You're pregnant!"
Sara nodded. "Yeah. A baby. I just . . . don't know what to do from here."
Mother-mode kicked in and Catherine launched into action. "Let's go sit down, first of all." They returned to the living room and Catherine made sure Sara was within falling distance of the couch, then continued. "Ok, first you need to make an appointment with your gyno so you get it verified and get yourself checked out. Well no, before you do that you need to talk to Grissom. Have you guys ever talked about kids?"
"No. No, that's the problem. I have no idea what this means for us. I don't know how I even feel about a baby, let alone how Grissom is going to feel." She took a deep breath. "How did you tell Eddie?"
Catherine thought about this. "You know . . . I don't really remember. I think that he knew I was taking the test, so I just showed it to him. But I'm not really sure." She took a close look at Sara and abruptly ordered, "Sit."
Startled, Sara sat. "What the . . why?"
"You're pale, my dear, and there's no way I'm scraping you off the floor if you faint."
"Oh." Sara was silent for a moment, then spoke again. "Help me, Cath. I don't know how to do this. What if he's angry? How do I even broach the subject?"
"Well," Catherine smiled, "it would be a good introduction to throw up on him. Might give him a hint." Checking Sara's expression, she sighed. "Ok, bad idea. Well honestly, Sara, we both know he likes and cares about kids. We've seen that on enough cases. I would think that his only real objections to having his own would be concern about you – you know you're hard enough to control when your hormones aren't raging – and worries that he's too old."
"But how do I tell him? Do I just walk in and go, 'Hi honey, how was your day, oh mine was okay, a and by the way we're having a baby'?"
"Works for me. No, I'm serious," she said, taking in Sara's annoyed expression. "The longer you put it off and the more elaborate the plans you make, the harder it's gonna be. My suggestion is that you just spit it the hell out."
Sara groaned. "You're no help!" Flopping back down onto the couch, she threw an arm over her eyes. "I can't believe this. This is not happening. This cannot be happening."
Her arm was forcefully removed from where it was resting. "Deal with it, Sara," Catherine said harshly. "Denial is not going to help you with this. You need to accept the fact that you two are going to have a baby and accept the fact that you need to tell Grissom ASAP. As in, now," she added in case Sara hadn't gotten the hint.
"Unghhh," was Sara's response. She rubbed her forehead in a very Grissom-like gesture, then sighed. "I know, you're right. This is just completely overwhelming." She frowned. "I'm going to need you for the next nine months, aren't I."
"Probably. But hey, I'm not so bad, and I can lend you clothes that'll save you a shitload of money. Think of me as your . . . pregnancy professor or something."
"Bad joke, Cath," Sara said with a small smile. Standing up, she gave Catherine an awkward bob of the head, looking like she wanted to hug the blonde but was too apprehensive, and gathered up her stuff. "Real bad. But I'll just have to put up with you, I guess." She shook her head in amazement. "I can't believe this is happening."
"Good luck, Sara. Don't worry so much, I think he'll be happy."
"God, I hope so."
