Several more weeks passed and finally a break came in the case of Candace Matthews. When crews had demolished the house and then subsequently had sifted through the rubble, the knife set from the kitchen was located. When the knives were tested for traces of human blood, one knife in particular had considerable amounts around the handle on the blade. Whoever had cleaned it had obviously been in a hurry. They were able to determine from the casts that Grissom had done, that the knife in question was in fact the knife that had been used in the murder of Candace Matthews. When Greg did the DNA analysis, he was able to determine that the blood on the knife not only matched the blood of Candace Matthews but that of a mystery donor, meaning that they had substantial evidence which cleared her mother. Now if they could just find Raymond Martin and compare his DNA with that of the mystery donor they might be able to close the case. ~*~*~*~*~*~

Sara and Nick were still feeling edgy, but had made a conscious effort to think about how they were responding to everyone else. It seemed to have improved the tone of the team as a whole, but they still caught the rest of the team giving them worried glances now and then.

They sat at the break room table with Warrick and Catherine waiting for Grissom to arrive to hand out assignments when Sara suddenly jumped up from the table and ran out of the room. Warrick and Catherine looked over at Nick with quizzical expressions on their faces.

Nick met their curious stares. "Sara thinks she's got some kind of bug. She hasn't been feeling very well the last couple of days."

"Why doesn't she stay home then?" Catherine asked.

"With the lead in this case, are you kidding? This is Sara we're talking about here." Nick replied sipping his coffee. He thought silently to himself that the other reason was because he'd promised Sara that he wouldn't leave her alone and they were leaving for Texas at the end of the week for a couple of weeks so his family could meet her.

Warrick nodded.

Catherine glanced toward the door. "I'm going to go check on her." She made her way to the ladies room where she found Sara still throwing up in one of the stalls. "Sara?"

"Just a minute, Catherine." Sara finally stepped out of the stall and made her way over to a sink so she could wash her mouth out.

Catherine watched her with concern. "You ok?"

Sara nodded and pasted on a smile. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

Catherine wasn't convinced. "Uh, can I ask you something?"

Sara nodded as she wiped her mouth.

"How far along are you?" Catherine had a knowing look.

Disbelief and then relief washed over Sara's face. "Uh, how did you know?"

Catherine chuckled. "I've been there. Does Nick know?"

Sara shook her head. "Not yet, I was going to get a pregnancy test later."

"Do you know how far along you are?" Catherine queried her.

Sara smiled, tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "I think about six weeks." The emotional surge from the extra hormones in her system were turning her into an entirely different Sara. "I don't know why I'm crying."

Catherine smiled. "It's normal. Do you want me to see if I can get Grissom to put us on a case together and then we can stop and get a pregnancy test?"

Sara smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that would be great." In spite of her hard exterior, tears slid down Sara's face. "If I cry like this all nine months, I'm going to ruin my reputation."

"When are you going to tell Nick?" Catherine asked her gently.

"As soon as I know for sure." Sara wiped the tears from her face and blotted it with a cool wet paper towel before she and Catherine made their way back to the break room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Catherine and Sara were in the ladies room waiting to see what would appear on the test strip. Catherine watched Sara with an amused expression as a myriad of emotions crossed the younger woman's face as she waited. Catherine broke the silence. "Ready?"

Sara nodded. "As I'll ever be." She wasn't sure what Nick would say if she was in fact pregnant. They'd only been married three weeks and if her calculations were correct, she got pregnant just about the first time they'd had sex, six weeks before when they'd been freed from the rubble the earthquake had trapped them under.

Catherine placed a comforting hand on Sara's shoulder as she looked at the strip. Sara started to cry and welcomed the hug that Catherine offered. "You'll be a great mom, Sara. You and Nick are doing to be great parents. This baby is going to be so loved."

Sara took a deep breath and wiped her tears away. "I don't want to wait to tell Nick. I just hope he doesn't freak out. I haven't even met his family yet."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

By the time Nick, Warrick, and Grissom finished up at their crime scene and arrived back at the lab, Sara was pacing in the break room. As soon as she caught sight of Nick, she went out into the hallway and grabbed his hand. "I need to talk to you." She started pulling him towards the locker room as a curious expression spread across his face.

Grissom raised an eyebrow. "Uh, Sara, Nick still has some evidence to process."

Sara flashed Grissom a pleading expression. "I just need him for a few minutes." She didn't wait for Grissom to say anything more; she just pulled a still silent Nick into the locker room.

When the door had shut behind them, a curious Nick finally spoke. "What's up?"

Sara looked nervous and fearful as she stepped closer to Nick. "I need to tell you something."

He raised an eyebrow. "What's so important that you needed to pull me into the locker room?" He looked a little concerned. "Are you doing ok?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." She slid her arms around his neck and looked into his eyes. "I'm just worried about you."

Nick looked confused. "Why are you worried about me?"

Sara let out a deep breath and rested her forehead against his. "Nick, we're going to have a baby."

Nick looked dumbstruck.

"I'm pregnant." Sara thought maybe if she took the direct approach it might make him respond.

Nick just stared at her, still not quite grasping what she was telling him.

"You're going to be a father." Sara was beginning to wonder what in the world Nick was thinking. "Nick, say something, you're scaring me."

Nick finally spoke. "We're going to have a baby?"

She nodded. "Yeah, we're having a baby." Sara took one of his hands and placed it on her abdomen.

"Are you sure?" Nick looked completely dumbfounded.

Sara nodded and a hurt expression crossed her face as Nick pulled away from her to sit down on the bench in front of the row of lockers.

"You're sure?" Nick repeated again trying to let the information sink in.

Tears started streaming down Sara's face and she tried to wipe them away with the back of her hand. "Yes, I'm sure."

"Wow." Nick still couldn't quite fathom what Sara was telling him. They were supposed to meet his entire family in just a few days and it had shocked them enough that he had run off and gotten married without telling them, but this was going to throw them for a loop. "A baby?"

"You're upset about this?" Sara didn't know what to do. She just wiped at the tears that continued to run down her face.

He looked up at her and the tears on her cheeks registered in his mind. He shook his head and stood up, putting his hands on her shoulders. "No, I'm not upset. I just didn't expect this."

Sara started sobbing; she was scared to death. "I didn't plan this either." She wasn't sure whether he was accusing her or just startled by the whole situation, not that it wasn't bound to happen sooner or later, they hadn't exactly been using protection.

Nick wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. He rubbed her back and tried to reassure her. "Sara, honey, its going to be ok. It's just a little shock that's all. We'll be ok." He let out a deep breath. "How far along are you?"

"Six weeks." She replied sniffling.

It dawned on Nick when the baby must have been conceived. He chuckled. "We're having an earthquake baby."

Sara chuckled. "Yeah, I guess we are; I guess you really rocked my world."

Nick just held her. He was just as scared as she was.