Disclaimer: Unfortunately, none of these characters belong to me, except for Elle and Harrison Stokes.
(A/N: I know they work the night shift, but I decided that they work whenever I want them to work. Oh, the power of being the author!)
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After getting the twins cleaned up and dressed, Nick was debating over what to do with them. He couldn't keep them hostage in this house for the next three days, they'd all go insane. And with the brief two and a half hours Nick would have to himself tomorrow, he considered having Greg come over to help and give him some relief.
"Daddy, where are we going?" Harrison asked, watching his father grab his dark blue and Elle's light pink sweatshirt jackets out of the hall closet.
"Oh I don't know, maybe we'll head my the lab and let you see Greg, or we could go to the park." Nick said, handing Harrison his jacket. The twins thought about what they would rather do and see. It was a tough decision for them, choosing between their two favorite things - Greg and the park.
"Can we go to see Greg and then go to the park?"
Nick handed Elle her jacket. "I'm afraid we can only do one thing today, but tomorrow is a new day so whatever we can't do today we can do tomorrow." Harrison looked passed his sister and out the window, making Elle do the same. He noticed how nice and sunny it was out, and made the decision.
"I want to go to the park, but tomorrow we can see Greg, right?" Harrison said.
"Hey, wait a second. Aren't we going to ask Elle what she wants to do?" Harrison turned around, and looked at his sister with pleading eyes. He hoped that she wanted to do the same as she did. He remembered when he wanted macaroni and cheese for dinner, and she wanted a cheeseburger - they ended up with soup. "Elle, do you want to go to the park today?" Nick said, helping Harrison zipper his jacket.
"OK, but I want to see Greg tomorrow, too." She said, fumbling with her own jacket zipper. Nick went over to help her, but she zippered it up before he could lend a hand. "I got it." She said, triumphantly.
"OK, so today we'll go to the park and then tomorrow, after preschool, we'll go and see how Greg's doing." Nick said, turning off the television and grabbing his own jacket and keys. "Alright, are we ready to go?"
"Yeah!" Harrison said, followed by Elle. Nick walked out and the twins ran to the Tahoe parked in their driveway. Nick opened the door for them, and they hopped in the backseat. Once he knew they were buckled in, he buckled himself and pulled out of the driveway and headed towards the park. As soon as Nick parked in front of the bright yellow swing set, he heard two seatbelts unclick and felt feet shuffling behind him. When he turned around, he saw Harrison opening the door and hoping out, followed by Elle.
Before Nick even got out of the car, Harrison and Elle had ran towards their favorite toy in the whole park - the tire swing. He remembered last time he pushed them on the tire swing, he went home with a sore back. They spent the next two hours running around the park and playing on the few toys spread out across the grassy area. They had all taken a seat underneath a shady tree, and were relaxing and enjoying the breeze that wasn't customary in Las Vegas.
"Daddy?" Elle said, looking up at her father. She had positioned herself comfortably underneath Nick's arm and was resting her head on his chest.
"Hmm?" Nick said, looking down at her. He removed his arm from her side to let her sit up.
"I need to go to the bathroom." Elle said, standing up. Usually Sara would take her to the women's room, but now Sara wasn't there and there was no Sara there to take Elle. Nick had remembered Sara explaining to him about not letting their young children go into public restrooms by themselves. He recalled her saying "Nicky, you've seen the news. Public restrooms are where perverted child molesters seek out their victims. Our children will not be victims of those perverts!" Nick didn't know what to do, and the drive home was about 20 minutes. He knew she wouldn't last.
"Do you really need to go Elle? Or can you wait, and we'll go home right now?" Nick said, silently praying that she would sit back down and forget needing to use the bathroom.
"Daddy, I need to go now!!" Elle said, causing Harrison to roll his eyes at how dramatic she was. He had taken the exact same position Elle had, but on the opposite side of their father. Nick stood up, and looked around for a restroom. Then he saw a restroom located close to their car.
"OK Elle, come on." Nick said, grabbing Elle's hand. Harrison got up, and walked behind them towards the restroom. He figured he could take her into the men's restroom. 'What men would be here? Most would be at home with their families eating dinner, or at work.' Nick thought.
"Harrison, come on." Nick said, holding the door open as Elle stepped inside the men's bathroom. He could hear Elle from inside asking "Daddy, are these long toilets?" Nick thought it was best to just ignore the question. "Elle, wait a second." He yelled inside the restroom.
"Harrison, right now." Harrison just stood there, staring at Nick. "I'm not joking here, Harrison. Right now, mister." Harrison didn't move a muscle. Then Nick remembered. "Hey Har, if you don't get in this bathroom right now, we're not seeing Greg tomorrow after preschool." That made Harrison run into the restroom.
"OK Elle, so do your stuff and me and Harrison will wait right here." Nick said, pointing towards the stall. Elle just stood there, watching Nick. "Come on Elle, we need to get home and get ready for school tomorrow." Nick said, pleading with his daughter.
"Daddy, when I go with Mommy, she covers the seat so that my tooshie doesn't get dirty." Elle said.
"She covers it? With what? Toilet paper?" Nick asked, Elle nodded in response. "OK, I can do that. Just wait a second." Nick said, stepping into the stall. A few moments later, Nick emerged. "OK Elle, its all ready."
Elle walked into the stall and locked the door behind her. Nick had covered every square inch of the seat, with at least a dozen sheets of toilet paper. After she was done, she came out of the stall. Nick had started running the water for her to wash her hands and Harrison held out paper towels for her to dry her hands with. Elle laughed at the sight.
"Daddy, you put a lot of toilet paper on the seat. Mommy doesn't cover it that much." Elle said, lathering her hands with the soap.
"Well, I really didn't want your tooshie to get dirty." Nick said, helping her with the nozzles for the water. "All done?" Nick asked. When she nodded, he turned the water off and Harrison handed her the paper towels.
"Thanks Harrison" Elle said, flashing him a grin that was uniquely Elle's.
"OK, so we all ready to go home?" Nick asked, walking out of the bathroom and headed to their Tahoe. Both nodded, and Nick was thankful that they didn't want to play on any more of the toys. He unlocked the doors, and Harrison and Elle ran up and let themselves into the car. Nick closed the door, and got in himself. He pulled out of his parking spot once they were all buckled in.
"So, what do you guys want for dinner?" Nick said, looking at his twins in the backseat through the rearview mirror.
"McDonalds!" Elle yelled, making Harrison mimic her.
"OK, McDonalds it is." Nick said. They drove the way to McDonalds in silence. Nick thought about how thankful he was that the restroom had been empty when he covered the seat for Elle. With Harrison, he did his business without ever touching the seat. Except for the time he lost his balance and tipped forward. Thankfully, he steadied himself with his hands and that was the only part of his body that touched the seat. Nick cringed at the idea of his son's hands touching something that someone else's derriere had occupied.
They pulled up at McDonalds, placed their orders - two cheeseburger Happy Meals for Elle and Harrison, and a Big Mac with a large soda and fries for Nick - and made their way home. Unfortunately for Nick, the toy that had come in the Happy Meal were toys that made a whistling sound. He had, unwisely, handed the toys to the twins before they pulled away and the whole ride home they made the toy whistle, using all of their breath.
After they had returned home and eaten, Elle and Harrison had passed out on the couch. He had made them ice-cream sundaes, which was a rarity in the Stokes' household. Sara didn't mind them eating it eventually, but she didn't want to make a routine of it. After the ice-cream, they sat down to watch the movie Sara had bought them, and eventually fell asleep.
Nick eventually felt like passing out on the couch too. He hated to admit it to himself, but he was tired. They had worn him out all day. 'They're non-stop' Nick thought, as he did the dishes from the ice-cream. 'I don't know how they had all that energy all day.' When he finished the dishes, he turned the video off and carried Harrison and Elle into their bedrooms. 'Thank God they changed before falling asleep' Nick thought as he placed Elle in her bed. The night before he had a small fight with a sleeping Harrison, who kept kicking as Nick tried to take his day pants off and put on his pajama pants.
Nick made his way into his own room, picking up toys that had strayed away from the toy chest in the hall that connected the twins' rooms. As he changed his own clothes to a pair of pajama shorts and a t-shirt, the phone rang. Nick picked it up quickly, knowing that if one of his twin's woke up, he was too tired himself to tend to them.
"Hello?" Nick said, slightly groggy.
"Nicky? Hey, its Sara." His wife responded. Nick hadn't realized how much he'd missed her until he heard her voice.
"Hi honey, how's it going?" Nick said, loving to hear Sara's voice.
"Ugh, well, its going. You have to see this couple lived - their bathroom is, seriously, the size of our entire home. Its absolutely amazing. We're leaning towards the father killing his son, resulting in his wife killing herself." Sara said. She heard Nick yawn, and figured he'd had a long day with the twins. "How are the kids?"
"They're perfect, Sara. Just the way you left them." Nick asked, smiling to himself as he thought about how side-tracked Sara must've been all day thinking about her twins.
"What'd you guys do today?" Sara asked, taking a bite of the salad Warrick had gotten her once they had a break. Nick could hear her chew on something that sounded like a cucumber.
"Oh, we watched Animal Jam, and went to the park and ate McDonalds."
"Ah yes, Harrison told me this morning that you watched Animal Jam. Knowing you, my dear husband, you must've been enthralled." Sara said, laughing.
Nick remembered her calling this morning, and barely having any time to talk to her with the twins wanting breakfast. "It was amazing. Quality television, let me tell you." Nick said, turning on the television set and putting it on Mute.
"So you went to the park?" Sara asked, still munching away on her salad. She hadn't eaten anything since the night before, on the place. It was two cookies that tasted like she ate them a day too late.
"Yep." Nick said, flipping through the channels.
"And how was that?" Sara said, finally finishing her dinner.
"It was great. I don't think I ever realized how energetic these two are." Nick said, finally leaving the channel on some infomercial about itch cream.
"Yeah, sometimes I wonder how they function on such little sleep." Sara said, laying down on her hotel bed. Warrick popped his head in from his adjoining room and pointed to his watch. They had to get back to the crime scene so that tomorrow they could process all the stuff. Friday was the day that they were going to prove whodunit, or at least they hoped, and they would head home later in the day if all went well.
"Nicky, I gotta go. Warrick's here, and we've got more stuff to do at the crime scene. The kids are asleep?" Sara asked, sliding her shoes on.
"Yeah, they fell asleep about an hour ago."
"OK, and you remembered they have preschool tomorrow?"
"Yep, 10 to 12:30."
"Yeah, and I left clothes on our dresser for them to wear. If they look a little wrinkled, you could just iron it out quickly. And make sure you're not late to pick them up. Leave the house 10 minutes early to get them." Nick eyed the pile of clothes on the dresser. "Nick, are you listening?" Sara asked, watching as Warrick walked back into her room, pointing at his watch again.
"Yeah, Sar. I got it. They'll be fine. You're coming home Friday right?" Nick said, wanting to fall asleep.
"I'm really hoping so, Nick. I'll call you tomorrow, OK? I love you." Sara said, grabbing her jacket.
"I'll talk to you tomorrow Sara. Say hi to Warrick and Grissom for me. I love you, too. Bye."
"Bye, sweetie." And with that, they both hung up their phones.
Five minutes later, Nick was asleep. Twenty minutes later, Elle was sleeping at his side. And a little over an hour later, Harrison was sleeping next to Nick's head.
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(A/N: I know they work the night shift, but I decided that they work whenever I want them to work. Oh, the power of being the author!)
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After getting the twins cleaned up and dressed, Nick was debating over what to do with them. He couldn't keep them hostage in this house for the next three days, they'd all go insane. And with the brief two and a half hours Nick would have to himself tomorrow, he considered having Greg come over to help and give him some relief.
"Daddy, where are we going?" Harrison asked, watching his father grab his dark blue and Elle's light pink sweatshirt jackets out of the hall closet.
"Oh I don't know, maybe we'll head my the lab and let you see Greg, or we could go to the park." Nick said, handing Harrison his jacket. The twins thought about what they would rather do and see. It was a tough decision for them, choosing between their two favorite things - Greg and the park.
"Can we go to see Greg and then go to the park?"
Nick handed Elle her jacket. "I'm afraid we can only do one thing today, but tomorrow is a new day so whatever we can't do today we can do tomorrow." Harrison looked passed his sister and out the window, making Elle do the same. He noticed how nice and sunny it was out, and made the decision.
"I want to go to the park, but tomorrow we can see Greg, right?" Harrison said.
"Hey, wait a second. Aren't we going to ask Elle what she wants to do?" Harrison turned around, and looked at his sister with pleading eyes. He hoped that she wanted to do the same as she did. He remembered when he wanted macaroni and cheese for dinner, and she wanted a cheeseburger - they ended up with soup. "Elle, do you want to go to the park today?" Nick said, helping Harrison zipper his jacket.
"OK, but I want to see Greg tomorrow, too." She said, fumbling with her own jacket zipper. Nick went over to help her, but she zippered it up before he could lend a hand. "I got it." She said, triumphantly.
"OK, so today we'll go to the park and then tomorrow, after preschool, we'll go and see how Greg's doing." Nick said, turning off the television and grabbing his own jacket and keys. "Alright, are we ready to go?"
"Yeah!" Harrison said, followed by Elle. Nick walked out and the twins ran to the Tahoe parked in their driveway. Nick opened the door for them, and they hopped in the backseat. Once he knew they were buckled in, he buckled himself and pulled out of the driveway and headed towards the park. As soon as Nick parked in front of the bright yellow swing set, he heard two seatbelts unclick and felt feet shuffling behind him. When he turned around, he saw Harrison opening the door and hoping out, followed by Elle.
Before Nick even got out of the car, Harrison and Elle had ran towards their favorite toy in the whole park - the tire swing. He remembered last time he pushed them on the tire swing, he went home with a sore back. They spent the next two hours running around the park and playing on the few toys spread out across the grassy area. They had all taken a seat underneath a shady tree, and were relaxing and enjoying the breeze that wasn't customary in Las Vegas.
"Daddy?" Elle said, looking up at her father. She had positioned herself comfortably underneath Nick's arm and was resting her head on his chest.
"Hmm?" Nick said, looking down at her. He removed his arm from her side to let her sit up.
"I need to go to the bathroom." Elle said, standing up. Usually Sara would take her to the women's room, but now Sara wasn't there and there was no Sara there to take Elle. Nick had remembered Sara explaining to him about not letting their young children go into public restrooms by themselves. He recalled her saying "Nicky, you've seen the news. Public restrooms are where perverted child molesters seek out their victims. Our children will not be victims of those perverts!" Nick didn't know what to do, and the drive home was about 20 minutes. He knew she wouldn't last.
"Do you really need to go Elle? Or can you wait, and we'll go home right now?" Nick said, silently praying that she would sit back down and forget needing to use the bathroom.
"Daddy, I need to go now!!" Elle said, causing Harrison to roll his eyes at how dramatic she was. He had taken the exact same position Elle had, but on the opposite side of their father. Nick stood up, and looked around for a restroom. Then he saw a restroom located close to their car.
"OK Elle, come on." Nick said, grabbing Elle's hand. Harrison got up, and walked behind them towards the restroom. He figured he could take her into the men's restroom. 'What men would be here? Most would be at home with their families eating dinner, or at work.' Nick thought.
"Harrison, come on." Nick said, holding the door open as Elle stepped inside the men's bathroom. He could hear Elle from inside asking "Daddy, are these long toilets?" Nick thought it was best to just ignore the question. "Elle, wait a second." He yelled inside the restroom.
"Harrison, right now." Harrison just stood there, staring at Nick. "I'm not joking here, Harrison. Right now, mister." Harrison didn't move a muscle. Then Nick remembered. "Hey Har, if you don't get in this bathroom right now, we're not seeing Greg tomorrow after preschool." That made Harrison run into the restroom.
"OK Elle, so do your stuff and me and Harrison will wait right here." Nick said, pointing towards the stall. Elle just stood there, watching Nick. "Come on Elle, we need to get home and get ready for school tomorrow." Nick said, pleading with his daughter.
"Daddy, when I go with Mommy, she covers the seat so that my tooshie doesn't get dirty." Elle said.
"She covers it? With what? Toilet paper?" Nick asked, Elle nodded in response. "OK, I can do that. Just wait a second." Nick said, stepping into the stall. A few moments later, Nick emerged. "OK Elle, its all ready."
Elle walked into the stall and locked the door behind her. Nick had covered every square inch of the seat, with at least a dozen sheets of toilet paper. After she was done, she came out of the stall. Nick had started running the water for her to wash her hands and Harrison held out paper towels for her to dry her hands with. Elle laughed at the sight.
"Daddy, you put a lot of toilet paper on the seat. Mommy doesn't cover it that much." Elle said, lathering her hands with the soap.
"Well, I really didn't want your tooshie to get dirty." Nick said, helping her with the nozzles for the water. "All done?" Nick asked. When she nodded, he turned the water off and Harrison handed her the paper towels.
"Thanks Harrison" Elle said, flashing him a grin that was uniquely Elle's.
"OK, so we all ready to go home?" Nick asked, walking out of the bathroom and headed to their Tahoe. Both nodded, and Nick was thankful that they didn't want to play on any more of the toys. He unlocked the doors, and Harrison and Elle ran up and let themselves into the car. Nick closed the door, and got in himself. He pulled out of his parking spot once they were all buckled in.
"So, what do you guys want for dinner?" Nick said, looking at his twins in the backseat through the rearview mirror.
"McDonalds!" Elle yelled, making Harrison mimic her.
"OK, McDonalds it is." Nick said. They drove the way to McDonalds in silence. Nick thought about how thankful he was that the restroom had been empty when he covered the seat for Elle. With Harrison, he did his business without ever touching the seat. Except for the time he lost his balance and tipped forward. Thankfully, he steadied himself with his hands and that was the only part of his body that touched the seat. Nick cringed at the idea of his son's hands touching something that someone else's derriere had occupied.
They pulled up at McDonalds, placed their orders - two cheeseburger Happy Meals for Elle and Harrison, and a Big Mac with a large soda and fries for Nick - and made their way home. Unfortunately for Nick, the toy that had come in the Happy Meal were toys that made a whistling sound. He had, unwisely, handed the toys to the twins before they pulled away and the whole ride home they made the toy whistle, using all of their breath.
After they had returned home and eaten, Elle and Harrison had passed out on the couch. He had made them ice-cream sundaes, which was a rarity in the Stokes' household. Sara didn't mind them eating it eventually, but she didn't want to make a routine of it. After the ice-cream, they sat down to watch the movie Sara had bought them, and eventually fell asleep.
Nick eventually felt like passing out on the couch too. He hated to admit it to himself, but he was tired. They had worn him out all day. 'They're non-stop' Nick thought, as he did the dishes from the ice-cream. 'I don't know how they had all that energy all day.' When he finished the dishes, he turned the video off and carried Harrison and Elle into their bedrooms. 'Thank God they changed before falling asleep' Nick thought as he placed Elle in her bed. The night before he had a small fight with a sleeping Harrison, who kept kicking as Nick tried to take his day pants off and put on his pajama pants.
Nick made his way into his own room, picking up toys that had strayed away from the toy chest in the hall that connected the twins' rooms. As he changed his own clothes to a pair of pajama shorts and a t-shirt, the phone rang. Nick picked it up quickly, knowing that if one of his twin's woke up, he was too tired himself to tend to them.
"Hello?" Nick said, slightly groggy.
"Nicky? Hey, its Sara." His wife responded. Nick hadn't realized how much he'd missed her until he heard her voice.
"Hi honey, how's it going?" Nick said, loving to hear Sara's voice.
"Ugh, well, its going. You have to see this couple lived - their bathroom is, seriously, the size of our entire home. Its absolutely amazing. We're leaning towards the father killing his son, resulting in his wife killing herself." Sara said. She heard Nick yawn, and figured he'd had a long day with the twins. "How are the kids?"
"They're perfect, Sara. Just the way you left them." Nick asked, smiling to himself as he thought about how side-tracked Sara must've been all day thinking about her twins.
"What'd you guys do today?" Sara asked, taking a bite of the salad Warrick had gotten her once they had a break. Nick could hear her chew on something that sounded like a cucumber.
"Oh, we watched Animal Jam, and went to the park and ate McDonalds."
"Ah yes, Harrison told me this morning that you watched Animal Jam. Knowing you, my dear husband, you must've been enthralled." Sara said, laughing.
Nick remembered her calling this morning, and barely having any time to talk to her with the twins wanting breakfast. "It was amazing. Quality television, let me tell you." Nick said, turning on the television set and putting it on Mute.
"So you went to the park?" Sara asked, still munching away on her salad. She hadn't eaten anything since the night before, on the place. It was two cookies that tasted like she ate them a day too late.
"Yep." Nick said, flipping through the channels.
"And how was that?" Sara said, finally finishing her dinner.
"It was great. I don't think I ever realized how energetic these two are." Nick said, finally leaving the channel on some infomercial about itch cream.
"Yeah, sometimes I wonder how they function on such little sleep." Sara said, laying down on her hotel bed. Warrick popped his head in from his adjoining room and pointed to his watch. They had to get back to the crime scene so that tomorrow they could process all the stuff. Friday was the day that they were going to prove whodunit, or at least they hoped, and they would head home later in the day if all went well.
"Nicky, I gotta go. Warrick's here, and we've got more stuff to do at the crime scene. The kids are asleep?" Sara asked, sliding her shoes on.
"Yeah, they fell asleep about an hour ago."
"OK, and you remembered they have preschool tomorrow?"
"Yep, 10 to 12:30."
"Yeah, and I left clothes on our dresser for them to wear. If they look a little wrinkled, you could just iron it out quickly. And make sure you're not late to pick them up. Leave the house 10 minutes early to get them." Nick eyed the pile of clothes on the dresser. "Nick, are you listening?" Sara asked, watching as Warrick walked back into her room, pointing at his watch again.
"Yeah, Sar. I got it. They'll be fine. You're coming home Friday right?" Nick said, wanting to fall asleep.
"I'm really hoping so, Nick. I'll call you tomorrow, OK? I love you." Sara said, grabbing her jacket.
"I'll talk to you tomorrow Sara. Say hi to Warrick and Grissom for me. I love you, too. Bye."
"Bye, sweetie." And with that, they both hung up their phones.
Five minutes later, Nick was asleep. Twenty minutes later, Elle was sleeping at his side. And a little over an hour later, Harrison was sleeping next to Nick's head.
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