A/N: still don't own crap. Don't sue. Sorry I took so long to post. You can find me and shoot me, I promise. I've just been out of town this entire summer, which I know is a lame excuse, but I haven't been in front of my own computer for oh...almost 2 months now. Anyway, this is just rambling. I'll let you read the story. I also don't own Mazda. And I'm making this extra-long to make up for my serious laziness.
Chapter 3
Amy's jaw dropped. "Excuse me. I have to go unpack." She fled into the house and grabbed the cordless phone. Amy dialed her home phone number.
"Hello?" Jamie Kelly, the secret service agent assigned to protect her mother, answered the phone.
"Is, uh, Amy there?" She asked.
"May I ask who's calling?"
"Nicole." She replied quickly. "Nicole Smith."
"One moment please." Amy heard a thunk as Jamie went to find Ashley.
A few minutes later, Ashley picked up. "Ames?"
"Hey Ash. Can you be alone?"
"Yeah, one sec." Ashley ducked into a closet. "Okay, I'm alone. What's going on?"
"Dad found a woman." Amy said bluntly.
"WHAT?" Ashley shouted.
"Shh!" Amy hissed. "Be quiet. Daddy met this woman named Mandy. She's this blonde bimbo who's a total drag. But it gets worse. Daddy's going to marry her!"
"WHAT?" Ashley shouted even louder.
"SHH!"
"Sorry. But how is that possible? He didn't even KNOW a Mandy before I left."
"Well, he knows her now. We've got to get them together before it's too late!"
"Alright, I'll do my best." Neither one of the girls noticed a click on the line.
"Ashley, she cannot see dad before she sees the both of us." Amy, do everything in your power to keep that Mandy woman from being alone with dad."
"Ashley Stokes, we are not going to let our parents stay apart."
"Definitely. I'll see you as soon as possible."
"Later Ash."
"Later Ames."
Sara Sidle quietly hung up the phone. So Amy and Ashley had met. She'd simply have to avoid seeing her ex-husband. Sara glanced at the photo she had of Nick hidden in her desk. Nick hadn't loved her anymore. He'd gotten restless. He didn't trust her. He'd accused her of having an affair with Grissom. Two days later the FBI job offer came in and Sara left. She'd taken Amy with her and not looked back. Sara stood up and exited the room. The girl whom she had thought was Amy bounded the stairs.
"Hey mom!"
Sara observed the girl. How could she not have seen that this was not Amy? She had a small Texas twang in her voice the she tried to hide. This wasn't Amy.
Sara was staring at Ashley.
"Ashley Stokes." Sara leaned in the doorway of Amy's room.
"Huh?" Ashley's head whipped around.
"You're not Amy Sidle. You're Ashley Stokes."
Ashley's jaw dropped. "How did – how did you know?"
Sara smiled wryly. "You're a Texas girl at your heart, just like your dad. You can't completely get rid of that twang."
Ashley looked at the floor. "I guess you're really mad, huh?"
"No." Sara sat down on the bed next to Ashley. "I understand. You and Amy are both very grounded, but I understand. Now you are going to call your father and tell him the truth. Then you and I will fly to Dallas and I will get Amy and bring her home."
Ashley nodded. "I'll call him now."
Nick and Amy were trotting across the family ranch. "Daddy." Amy slowed Donut down. "There's something I want to talk to you about."
Nick stopped Sara. "Me too."
"What'd you want to say?" Amy turned in her saddle.
"No, you go first."
"No, you."
Nick laughed. "Alright. Ash, you don't like Mandy, do you?"
Ashley hedged the question. "Well, daddy, she's awfully young. She's only ten years older than I am. I mean she literally could be my older sister. She's just so much more an older sister than a mother."
"Well-" Nick was cut off by his cell. "Sorry Ash, one sec." He flipped open his phone. "Stokes."
"Hi daddy." Ashley's voice was timid.
Nick glanced from his cell phone to the girl on the horse. "Ashley?" He whispered.
"It's your little girl." She laughed.
"Were are you?"
"I'm in D.C. With mom."
"WHAT?"
"I'm in Washington D.C. with mom."
"Then who-"
"Amy. Amy Sidle. My twin. The one you never told me about." An accusatory tone crept into her voice. "Mom and I are flying to Texas tomorrow so that Amy and I can switch back."
"Ashley, when did you switch in the first place?"
"Amy and I met at Adventure camp."
"I can't believe this. Alright, I'll see you tomorrow." He snapped the phone shut. "Amy, when were you going to tell me?
Amy choked. "Tell you what?"
"That you aren't Ashley Stokes. You're Amy Sidle."
"I'm still your daughter." Amy protested.
"Why'd you guys lie?" Nick started Sara through one of the trails of the Stokes ranch.
Amy followed him. "Huh?"
"Tell me the whole story."
Amy shrugged guiltily. "Well, my mom, Sara, sent me to Clark County Outback Adventure Camp. Ashley didn't like each other until she cut my hair and we got sent to the isolation cabin to work out our problems. Ashley and I discovered that we share a love of pop-tarts and marshmallow crème. We got to talking and I asked her about her horse. She told me about Donut. I asked her if her mother and her father gave her the horse for her birthday. She said her mother left when she was little. She showed me a picture of her mom and I said that was my mom. I have this picture of you, and Ashley told me that was her dad. We wanted to meet our parents, so we switched." Amy blinked back tears. "I just wanted to meet you. I'd never met you before. Mom left when I was so young. All I had was a picture and I wanted to get the real you."
Nick sighed. "Well, your mom is coming tomorrow to bring Ash back and pick you up/"
"I'll go back and pack." Amy wheeled Donut in a half circle.
"Amy?" Nick knocked on his daughter's door.
"Yeah?" She glanced up briefly at Nick.
"Can we talk?"
"Sure." Amy turned her chair around, "What did you want to talk about?" Her voice was cool and maintained. She seemed to be detached and uncaring.
"I wanted to talk about us. I mean, we haven't seen each other in thirteen years and now, for a week, we've been living together. Tell me about what you've been doing with your life."
"Well, I live with mom. I go to my school. I get grades."
"Amy, don't be so –"
"So what, Nick?" Amy's eyes flashed. She could she her father recoil as she addressed him as Nick, rather than dad. "So dramatic? So emotional?" Then she threw the final barb. "So like Sara?"
Nick was done. Amy did remind him of Sara. "Don't be so angry." He said softly.
"Don't be angry?" You and mom are going to take me and Ash apart again and you're acting like it's no big deal."
"Amy, be reasonable. Your mother and I have agreed that it's best this way."
"Fine." Amy turned her back to her dad, signaling the end of the conversation.
Nick smiled tightly as Mandy's parents gushed over the setting that Nick and Mandy had chosen. He smiled when he saw Ashley approaching. "Ashley." He called. "Come meet Mandy's parents." Nick was only guessing this was Ashley. Ashley and Sara had been scheduled to get in an hour before, but it was possible that this was Amy.
Suddenly Nick saw Sara. "Excuse me." Nick dashed off. He exited the building and ran out to the pool, where Sara was. Sara turned around just in time to see Nick trip and plunge into the pool.
Other than Nick's pool-diving incident, the rest of the weekend passed uneventfully. Nick was waiting in the lobby to take Sara and Amy to the airport so that they could return to D.C. for the school year. Then, during the summer Amy would come to Texas and at Christmas Ashley would go to D.C. Sara tapped her foot impatiently and glanced at the stairs every so often. Finally Amy and Ashley descended. They were dressed in identical pairs of jeans and white v-necked tops. Identical pairs of black flip-flops completed the ensemble.
Sara was not amused. "Very funny girls. Go get changed."
"Sorry." Amy said.
"We're not letting you split us up again." Ashley smiled.
"This is so ridiculous." Nick threw his hands in the air. "You'll se each other again in a month and a half.
"We don't care." Amy spoke again.
"We want to go on the camping trip this year that we take every year." Ashley added.
"We want ALL of us to go." Amy made it clear that she wanted Sara to come as well.
Sara sighed. "Fine. But I'm taking one of you home with me after this camping trip."
"Agreed." Ashley and Amy grinned at each other.
The next week Amy and Ashley were climbing into the back seat of Nick's Denali when Mandy drove up to the Stokes ranch in her cherry-red Mazda Miata. "Where are you going?" She asked.
"I agreed to take Amy and Ashley camping."
"Amy and Ashley?"
Ashley tapped Mandy on the shoulder. "Hi Mandy."
"Hey." Mandy turned back to Nick. "As I was saying –"
"Hi Mandy." Amy tapped her on the shoulder.
"I already said –" The words died on her lips we she saw both Amy and Ashley. Her head whipped back and forth as though she were watching a tennis match. "There are two of you!" She exclaimed.
"Oh, Mandy, did I forget to tell you that Ash has a twin sister?" Nick was starting to have second thoughts on marrying Mandy.
"Yes. Yes I believe you did." Mandy covered her mouth with her hand. At that moment, Sara exited the Stokes house. "Who's that?" Mandy asked rudely.
"I'm Sara Sidle." Sara introduced herself politely. "Ashley and Amy's mother."
Mandy sucked in a breath. "Nicky, I don't think I like the idea of you going on a trip with your ex-wife."
"You know, I'm not comfortable with it either." Sara looked relieved not to have to go on the camping trip. "You ought to go. After all, when you marry Nick, you'll be their stepmother."
Mandy looked pleased.
The twins' mouths dropped open. "But Mom-"
"I insist." Sara threw a glare at her daughters.
"That sounds perfect." Mandy hopped into the passenger's seat of the Denali.
As they reached the lake, Mandy's complaining could be heard a mile away. "Are we there yet?" She whined.
"Yes." Ashley replied finally.
"Really?" Mandy brightened.
"Really." Nick was glad to be rid of his fiancée's incessant complaining. "Let's set up the tents, eat dinner, and go to sleep."
Late that night Amy and Ashley gripped the handles of Mandy's air mattress and carried her down to the lake. "Shh." Ashley giggled as they slid Mandy's air mattress into the water.
"Sweet dreams." Amy waved cheerfully.
The next morning Nick woke to the sounds of screaming. He exited his tent and saw Mandy flailing her arms wildly in the middle of the lake. He winced as he saw Mandy's feet fly above her head and then follow her head into the water.
A few minutes later Mandy came up to the campfire, sopping wet and pissed off. "Dam it Nick!" She yelled. "I am so sick of those little brats. You have to pick. Me or them."
Amy and Ashley watched with mild interest.
"Them." Nick spoke clearly.
"What?" Mandy looked incredulous.
"Them. T-H-E-M, them." Nick recited as though he were in a spelling bee.
"Argh!" Mandy kicked at the sand and stormed off.
"Hey, where's Mandy?" Sara came out of the sprawling white stucco ranch.
"We're not getting married." Nick replied simply.
"Are we still grounded?" Amy asked hopefully.
"Yes." Nick grinned. "Now go get unpacked. We're going out for dinner and then in the morning you and your mother are going back to California."
"Fine." The girls started to unload their bags.
"So you're not marrying Mandy?" Sara leaned in the doorframe, reminding Nick of when they worked together in Vegas.
"Nope." He smiled.
"Well, I'm going to get ready for dinner." Sara sauntered back into the house. A pang of sadness pierced Nick's heart. That was the way she used to strut around his house.
That night Sara, Nick, Amy, and Ashley were driven to a dock. "Have fun guys." Amy and Ashley waved.
"What?" Nick glanced at the two girls.
"Work it out." Ashley shooed the two out of the cab. "And have a good time." The cab drove away.
Sara and Nick stood dumbfounded for a second before they sighed and entered the cruise ship. It was the S.S. Paradise where Sara and Nick had taken their honeymoon.
"Shall we?" Nick pulled Sara's chair out for her.
Several hours later Sara and Nick had started to reminisce about Las Vegas.
"Do you miss it?" Nick asked.
"Every day." Sara replied. "The people are a lot more uptight in the FBI."
"I miss it too. Texas is great, but I'll always miss Vegas." Nick smiled. "Oh, look at the time. We'd better get back."
Sara nodded.
The next afternoon Sara and Amy were home. Amy ran to her room to check her email.
"Agent Kelly?" Sara entered Agent Kelly's office. There was no reply, even though the chair was turned around, facing the computer. "Very funny, Jamie." Sara folded her arms.
"I'm not Agent Kelly." Ashley spun the chair around. "So, as soon as you left, we decided something. We let you get away once and we're not going to do it again."
"We?" Sara was confused.
"We." A voice came from behind. Ashley quietly slipped out while her parents were staring at each other.
"Nick, what are you doing here?" Sara choked out.
"Sara, I let you run away once because of a stupid mistake and I'm not going to do it again. Sar, I love you." And with that announcement, Sara began to cry.
"This isn't the way it works. You don't get to come into my life and just sweep me off my feet. We can't just pick up where we left off. It's not that easy. We lead different lives now."
"Yes, yes we can. We love each other Sara. We can pick up where we left off because we never truly let go." Nick brushed away Sara's tears with his thumb and slowly leaned down to kiss her. When their lips touched, thirteen years of dormant feelings came rushing back.
"I love you so much Nick." Sara held him close. Nick pried her arms off of him and knelt down on one knee.
He held out the engagement ring that he'd given to her the first time they got married. "Then marry me." He whispered. "Come back to me Sara. Be my wife."
Sara nodded, the tears now flowing freely. "Yes." Her voice caught. "Of course I'll marry you."
A year later
Nick and Sara strolled into the CSI Las Vegas building. "It's good to have you two back." Catherine Willows smiled at the newly remarried couple.
"It's good to be back." Nick placed a hand over the slight bulge in Sara's stomach.
"What are you going to name her?" Catherine asked.
"Brooke. Brooke Anne Sidle-Stokes." Sara replied proudly.
THE END.
Awwwwwwwwwwwww...don't we love happy endings. I'm such a huge fan of the name brooke. Be forewarned that in almost every single one of my stories if Nick and Sara have a kid it will be a her and it will be either Ashley, Amy, Brooke, or Elizabeth. I didn't have a chance to work an Elizabeth into this story. If you have any requests, email me at and I'll try to write you a story. I'm also gonna finish up my other story that I'm being a lazyass about and not finishing. Again, I apologize.
–Anna