Chapter 6 – Birthday Surprises

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Nick kissed Sara goodbye and watched her walk down the driveway to her truck before closing the front door.  Ordinarily he would have wished they both had the night off, but this time he needed her out of the house so he could carry out his plan without any distractions.  He only hoped she'd be back by morning and wouldn't have to pull a double.

He got right to work as soon as she left, and managed to get everything ready and even squeeze in a decent amount of sleep before waking up early the next morning to prepare for her arrival.

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Sara drove in the early morning sunlight, a smile on her face.  Her case had gone well and she was now on her way home to spend time with the man she loved.  She couldn't remember ever having a birthday that started out so perfectly.  As she pulled into the driveway she noticed that not surprisingly, all the blinds were drawn.  Nick was never one to pass up sleep on his night off.  She grabbed the colorful bouquet of flowers, which she received from the rest of the team just before she left, and hopped out of the truck.  She quietly unlocked the front door and stepped inside.

Although the blinds were drawn, the living room was illuminated by the soft glow of what Sara thought could have easily been a hundred candles.  She glanced down at the floor when she kicked something with her shoe and realized the floor was sprinkled with rose petals.

"Happy birthday," Nick greeted with a smile as he approached her with a kiss.

"Thank you," she smiled back at him.

"C'mon, breakfast awaits," Nick took Sara's hand to lead her to the dining table.

"Are you sure it's okay to leave these candles burning out here when-"

"C'mon."  He rolled his eyes as he tugged at her arm.

Sara followed Nick and the path of rose petals to the table, where she was greeted by more candles and the smell of her favorite breakfast foods, blueberry pancakes and an omelet made just the way she liked it, egg whites only, pepperjack cheese, no onions, and extra mushrooms.

"Nick, you didn't have to do all this," Sara smiled gratefully.

"Yes I did," he replied with a kiss.  He pulled out her chair and motioned for her to sit down as he went to take the seat across from her.

Sara took a bite of her pancakes and was immediately in heaven.  Was there anything this man couldn't do?

"Thank you," Sara smiled at Nick across the table as she finished the last of her orange juice.  "Everything was perfect."

"You're welcome." He flashed a toothy grin.  "But it's not over yet.  Wait right here," he said as he got up and headed toward the bedroom.  He came back and placed a gift bag on the table in front of her before sitting back down.

Sara raised a curious eyebrow as she pulled out the tissue paper and reached into the bag.  She pulled out a spaghetti strap tank top with a big blue star on the front, with 'Cowboys' printed underneath it.  She raised her other eyebrow as she looked up at Nick.  He knew she wasn't much of a football fan, and what little part of her heart she did have dedicated to football was reserved for the Patriots because of her days at Harvard.

"It goes with this," was all Nick said as he handed her an envelope.

Sara opened the envelope and pulled out an airline ticket.  Her mouth opened but she couldn't get anything to come out.

"I want you to come home with me for Christmas," Nick finally spoke when Sara didn't say anything.

Sara broke her gaze from the ticket in her hand and looked up at Nick.  "Wow," she finally found her voice.  "I don't know what to say."

"Say you'll come."

"Of course.  Of course I'll come," she smiled.  She was touched that Nick wanted her to meet his family.  And that he wanted his family to meet her.  She knew his family meant a lot to him, and the fact that Nick wanted to bring her home to Texas meant a lot to her.

"Thanks," Nick said.

"No, thank you," she leaned across the table to give him a kiss.  "This was the best birthday present I've ever gotten."

"I'm glad you liked it."

"I loved it," she smiled as she kissed him again.  She started to pull away but Nick reached behind her head and pulled her back, deepening their kiss.  The shrill ring of Sara's cell phone abruptly interrupted their moment of bliss.

Nick groaned.  "Tell them you're not going back in until tonight," he told her, thinking it was the lab calling.

"Sidle," Sara answered.  "Oh…hi…I'm fine…no, I was awake…thank you…oh you did?  Well I moved and I got a new number…"

Nick got up and started taking the dirty dishes to the sink when he realized it wasn't the lab.

"I know…well work keeps me pretty busy…No, no, no, you don't have to, it's okay…really, it's okay…I'll probably be working anyway…"

Nick finished clearing the dishes and sat back down at the table with a fresh cup of coffee, listening to Sara's side of the conversation.

"Well if you already made the reservations, I don't want to inconvenience you," Sara sighed.  "It's fine…I can probably take some time off…okay…sure…yeah, I did move, but….yeah but…yeah…okay…I love you too…bye."  Sara sighed as she flipped her phone shut.

Nick looked at her, waiting for her to speak.

"My parents.  They called to wish me a happy birthday."  Sara's expression wasn't that of somebody who had just been wished a happy birthday.

"And that's a bad thing?" Nick asked.

"No.  It's what they said after that."

"What's wrong?  Are they okay?"  Nick had never met her parents but nevertheless didn't want anything to happen to them.

"They're fine," Sara replied.  "They just complained that they only see me when I come home for Christmas, and that they've never come to visit me since I moved here.  So they're coming down here for Thanksgiving."

"Well that's great.  I can meet your parents at Thanksgiving and you can meet mine at Christmas."

"Nick, you don't know my parents.  They're…different."

"Everyone thinks their parents are a little weird.  That's what makes them parents," Nick grinned.

"I know, but Rosemary and Lou-"

"Rosemary and Lou?"

"Well those are their names."

"What's wrong with mom and dad?"

"I told you they were different.  They made me call them by their first names.  They wanted me to feel like their equals; they didn't want our relationship to be based on the traditional parent-child hierarchy."

Nick just looked at her.  Okay, so they were a little different.  Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

"I guess that's what hippies did," Sara shrugged.

"Well I don't care what kind of people they are.  I'd love to meet them," Nick smiled.

"Well there's something else."

"What?"

"They don't know about us."

"About us living together?"

"Well that too…" Sara stared down at the table.

"Huh?" Nick was a little confused.

"They don't even know that we're together."

"Ashamed of me?" Nick teased.

"Sometimes," she teased back.

"So we'll surprise them.  It'll be fun."

"No, it won't," Sara replied in a tone of absolute certainty.

"Why, they don't like surprises?"

"No, I don't.  I told you they're different.  There's no telling what they'll say or do when they find out I'm dating someone, let alone living with someone.  They've never met anyone I've ever dated before."

"Well then I guess I should feel honored," Nick smiled.

"More like scared," Sara quipped.

"It'll be fine, don't worry.  Now c'mon," he got up and held out his hand to her.  "There's still more of your birthday present."

"More?" Sara looked at him as she got up and took his hand.

"The best part," he winked with a smile.

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Sara walked down the halls of CSI, a smile on her face and Nick's arm around her shoulder.  The two entered the break room and headed straight for the coffee machine.  The last part of Nick's birthday present had left both of them rather tired.

"Hey Sara, these came for you a couple minutes ago," Catherine pointed to the arrangement of two dozen red roses sitting on the table in front of her.

"Why Warrick, you shouldn't have," Sara teased as Warrick walked in.

"What did I do?" he stopped in his tracks.  "Are those for me?  Nick, you shouldn't have," he joked when he saw the roses.

Nick looked on with a mischievous smile as Sara opened the card, remembering the message he had written.  Sara scoffed as she finished reading and slapped him playfully on the arm.

"What does it say?" Catherine asked.

"Uh, I don't think I can read it out loud," Sara glared playfully at Nick, who only smiled innocently.  Before Sara could react, Catherine swiped the card from her.  "Hey!"

Catherine read the card and her eyes went wide.  "Wow Nick, I didn't think you had it in you."

Warrick grabbed the card from Catherine and proceeded to read.  "Isn't this illegal in some states?"

"Hey, what is this?  Pass around the love note?" Nick exclaimed as he tried to swipe the card from Warrick but ended up grabbing at thin air as Warrick pulled his arm out of the way.

"What are we passing around?" Grissom asked as entered, plucking the card from Warrick's outstretched arm.

"Uh, nothing," Sara quickly grabbed the card from Grissom before he had a chance to read it as everyone tried to stifle their laughter.

"Well I have assignments to pass around," Grissom said, oblivious to the joke that everybody but him was in on.  "Nick, Cath, suspected arson at a meat packing warehouse."

"I'll bring the steak sauce," Nick cracked.

"Too bad I already had dinner," Catherine added.

"That's disgusting," Sara looked at the meat eaters.

"Warrick, Sara, you guys are with me, 419 out in Peccole Ranch," Grissom continued.

"I'm driving," Sara told Warrick as she headed out.

"Yeah, well you're lucky it's still your birthday.  Just wait another couple hours, when that clock hits midnight, then we'll see whose boss," Warrick replied as he followed her down the hall.