"Congratulations, Ms. Willows." The doctor was smiling a bit too brightly, and in the back of her mind, Catherine wondered if this recent med school graduate had any clue about the difficulties of raising a child alone.
Catherine forced a smile onto her face as she considered the things she would have to do. Telling Lindsey was quite possibly the most difficult thing on the list.
The doctor interpreted the pasted on smile as apprehension, and tried to offer words of encouragement. "Don't worry, women your age are having children all the time now."
It was all Catherine could do to not reach out and grip the collar of the doctor's lab coat, instead she slid off of the exam table and raised a single eyebrow. "Are we done?"
An expression formed on the young doctor's face that indicated that he realized he'd somehow offended his patient. "Yes. Just schedule a follow up appointment with the receptionist, and don't hesitate to call if you have any questions."
Catherine let out a slightly amused chuckle. "I've done this before."
The doctor smiled warmly. "Ok then." He left the exam room, closing the door softly behind him.
Catherine let out a heavy sigh. Pregnant. Alone. Well, not completely alone. Warrick and Grissom both had reminded her that they were there for her. She knew that once Nick and Sara knew, they'd both be supportive, Nick would probably be protective, and Sara, well, Catherine wasn't really sure, but she'd been surprised by Sara on more than one occasion.
She quickly gathered her things and stopped by the reception desk to schedule another appointment a few weeks into the future. As she stepped outside, the sunlight assailing her eyes, she considered whether she should tell Chris at all. They had broken up because he didn't want to be held back by someone with a child, but he also had an admiration of Sam Braun that Catherine found unsettling considering what she knew of him.
Catherine barely remembered the drive back to her house and as she turned off the ignition she leaned back into the seat of her SUV and rested her hand on her abdomen, letting out a deep sigh. She was thankful that her sister hadn't questioned her request to have Lindsey spend the rest of the week with her; it wasn't that unusual, given the nature of her job.
She finally decided to pull herself out of the vehicle and head into the house. She would need to tell Grissom that her suspicions had proved to be true and she wasn't really sure how that would affect her ability to work, given that she'd already thrown up at a crime scene and couldn't seem to hold things together at the lab either.
After a leisurely shower to try and loosen the tension building in her shoulders from the stress of the last few days, she crawled into bed, not really able to fall asleep.
Several hours later, she strode purposefully into the lab, intent on talking to Grissom before the rest of the team showed up. As she neared his office, she could hear a rather intense conversation taking place.
"Well, Sheriff, since I work the night shift we didn't get the benefit of that announcement." He let out a frustrated sigh. "Yes, I understand that the same regulations apply, but unless we are informed of policy changes, how do you expect us to adhere to them?" He glanced up and noticed Catherine standing in the doorway, motioning her to come inside and close the door. "Rory, I'll be sure to brief my staff on the risks of heat exposure." He rolled his eyes. "Yes, we'll have to do that sometime." He shook his head as he ended the call, giving Catherine an exasperated look. "Does he think before he does thing? Atwater wants all of you up to speed on the risks of heat exposure because one of Ecklie's crew suffered heat stroke last week."
Catherine couldn't help the tug of a smile at her lips. "Heat exposure." She snickered.
Grissom nodded and let out a chuckle before giving Catherine a thoughtful gaze. "You went to the doctor?"
She nodded and let out a sigh, glancing down before looking at him. "Yeah. It was positive." She forced a smile onto her face, trying to stifle the fear that welled up within her.
Grissom's brows furrowed with concern. He knew Catherine well enough that this news had left her feeling very unsettled. "Are you ok with this?"
Catherine tried to keep her tone upbeat. "I'm sure I will be. I just think it's going to be difficult to tell Lindsey. I'm not sure what kind of message this is going to send her."
Grissom pursed his lips together as he processed her words.
Catherine continued. "I guess this is a very tangible consequence."
"Catherine, I know that you know this, but you do have options." Grissom meant for his words to provide her a measure of comfort.
Catherine steeled herself, she'd had a lot of opportunity to do some serious soul searching since she'd first had suspicions that she was pregnant. "Gil, right time or wrong, I'm going to go through with this. I think I've probably made some pretty stupid choices regarding men, but I know that I'm a good mom. That's one thing that I know I can do right."
Grissom's expression softened. "You a good CSI too, Catherine."
She smiled. "I know I am, but I'm a better mom."
"Whatever you decide, we're here for you." His tone implied that she was going to have to tell the rest of the nightshift team.
She nodded. "I know that." She was quiet for a moment. "Look, I don't want everyone to know quite yet. Warrick knows that I suspect that I'm pregnant, and I'm sure that Nick and Sara have their suspicions, but outside of them, I'd like to keep things under wraps until I'm a little further along."
Grissom nodded. "That's your choice."
Before he could say anything more, Catherine interjected. "And don't worry, I promise that if I'm feeling nauseous, that I'll vacate the crime scene. I wouldn't want to do anything to compromise the evidence."
As she stood to leave, Grissom spoke again. "Cath, I know I haven't always been the kind of friend you needed, but if you need anything." He left the statement open.
She smiled at him. "Gil, you've been a very good friend." She turned and left Grissom's office, heading towards the break room where she could already hear the friendly banter of Nick and Warrick discussing the preseason standings of their favorite football teams.
As she entered the room, she noticed Sara sitting at the table leafing through a forensics journal not quite paying attention to it as she seemed to find the interaction between Nick and Warrick more interesting. Taking a deep breath as concerned glances turned her way, Catherine began to tell them her news.