Greg Sanders had a slightly nervous expression on his face as he approached Catherine who was sitting at the break room table. "Hey, Catherine."
She glanced up and smiled, quickly furrowing her brow as she took in Greg's expression. "Greg." Her tone was dry, and perhaps a bit suspicious.
Greg cleared his throat. "Now I know that I'm not officially a CSI yet, but I have noticed a few things."
Catherine raised a single eyebrow unsure of where this conversation was going. "Ok." Her tone was skeptical.
Greg continued, albeit nervously. "You seem to have switched from coffee to tea. Herbal tea. Tea which lacks caffeine, which seems to me is essential for CSIs in general."
"Your point?" Catherine wasn't going to give up any information that Greg did not already have.
"Now I could assume that you're just cutting back on caffeine, but we're not supposed to assume anything. However, I also know that in the last week you've thrown up at a crime scene and you've thrown up in the hallway." Greg studied her to try and gauge her reaction.
"So I've been under the weather and I've been drinking tea which is easier on the stomach." Catherine's tone clearly implied that she wanted him to get to his conclusion quickly.
Greg smiled tentatively. "Well I've known you to work even when you're sick, and that's never stopped you from drinking my special blend of Blue Hawaiian."
Catherine let out a chuckle.
"So the evidence I do have leads me to wonder if you are with child." Greg looked smug.
Catherine didn't feel like stringing him along any longer. "Yeah, I am."
Greg looked pleased that his observations had proved correct. "How come you're keeping it a secret?"
She smiled genuinely at him. "It's not exactly a secret."
"I didn't know." Greg implied that he felt that maybe he should have been told.
Catherine responded kindly and smiled. "I didn't want the whole lab to know just yet."
"Since when am I the whole lab?" There was no malice in his statement, he simply felt that he was part of the group and his guess was that the rest of the CSIs knew about her secret already.
Catherine had a thoughtful expression on her face. "Good point." She nodded at Greg. "You're part of the team and you should have known, but I'll give you points for figuring it out on your own. When I told Nick I think coffee came out his nose."
Greg seemed to gloat. "My man Nick isn't so swift on the uptake."
Catherine chuckled and glancing around lowered her voice to a conspiratorial tone. "I just think his mind has been little preoccupied lately."
Greg arched both brows quizzically and then the light dawned. "Ah, Sara."
Catherine nodded.
Greg had a look of consternation on his face. "I think the jury is still out." There was a hint of hope in his voice.
Catherine tried to restrain her smile at Greg's obliviousness to his coworkers' state of mind. "Uh, it might be out for Sara at the moment, but I'm pretty sure that Nick already knows what he wants."
"What do I want?" Nick walked in, only hearing the last half of Catherine's statement.
Greg pasted on a grin. "My coffee." He gestured towards the coffee machine which appeared to have a sludge-like substance left by the dayshift.
Nick cocked an eyebrow. "You're slipping bro."
Catherine turned her attention back to her cup of tea and smiled as Nick bent and kissed her on the cheek before whispering in her ear. "How is my favorite pregnant CSI?"
Catherine chuckled. "I'm fine. Greg knows."
Nick straightened up and looked at her quizzically.
"He guessed." Catherine smirked.
"Hey, I would have figured it out eventually too. I just didn't expect to hear that just then." Nick puffed his chest out a little bit.
"Down boy. I'll let you come over and change diapers." Catherine was amused by Nick's subtle need to compete with Greg.
"Well, I've certainly had plenty of practice." He chuckled. "Not recently, but with all of my nieces and nephews I've had plenty of opportunity." He bent down again and whispered conspiratorially to Catherine's abdomen. "Just remember, Uncle Nick is your favorite." He grinned as both Catherine and Greg started to laugh.
"Someone's in a good mood." Greg's tone held a challenge.
Nick just laughed in response, shaking his head as he reached for the coffee pot to wash out the remnants of the dayshift coffee, gesturing to Greg. "I thought someone promised some decent coffee."
Catherine made a mental note to ask Nick about his more cheerful than normal demeanor as Greg walked out to retrieve his secret stash until Sara walked in looking far more rested than she had in a long time and with a smile on her face. Surprise registered subtly on Catherine's face as she watched Nick and Sara exchange a few glances that seemed to communicate volumes and the veteran CSI wondered exactly what had changed between them because it was evident to her that something had.
Sara smiled at Catherine with concern. "How are you feeling?"
Catherine gestured towards her tea. "Well, there's a reason it's called morning sickness."
Sara furrowed her brow at the thought. "How long is it supposed to last?"
"Every woman is different and every pregnancy is different. With Lindsey it only lasted for the first couple of months." She smirked. "I can only hope it doesn't go beyond that."
Nick looked at Catherine curiously. "So what does Lindsey think about having a sibling?"
Catherine looked at Nick and then Sara with as brave an expression as she could muster. "She doesn't actually know yet. She's been at my sister's all week because of day camp. She comes home tomorrow. I've been trying to figure out how to tell her."
Nick and Sara exchanged a glance, and surprisingly it was Sara who spoke. "Cath, you're a great mom; if anyone can do this, you can."