Rating: PG (just to be safe)
Disclaimer: The characters are not mine, except when they are. The settings and locations are not mine, except when they are. The plots, conflicts, and resolutions ARE mine, except when they're not.
Reviews/Feedback: CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is always welcome. Any suggestions you may have on how to make my story better will be greatly appreciated.
Author's Note: If you are a Grissom/Catherine 'shipper, I would strongly suggest that you find an alternate story to read.
Activity at the Las Vegas crime lab appeared to have come to a standstill. Granted, everyone's mind was elsewhere anyway, but fate actually seemed to be cooperating by bringing violent crime in the city to a halt. The problem was that with no work to distract them, nobody had anything to do but wait. Warrick Brown and Nick Stokes stood in the break room, drinking coffee out of white Styrofoam cups. Catherine Willows, who was in charge of shift that night, sat in her office (or 'cupboard', as she called it) rereading paperwork that she'd completed close to half an hour ago. Greg Sanders sat in the DNA lab, his CD player cycling through the selected music for the third time. Everyone kept watching the clock.
Nick drank the last dregs of his coffee, crushed the empty cup, and tossed it into the garbage. "I'm going to check in with Catherine," he said aloud before walking out of the room. Warrick turned and followed him. They reached the open door to Catherine's office, and Nick rapped on the doorframe before he and Warrick poked their heads inside. "Anything?" Nick asked. Catherine didn't even bother to lift her head. "Nothing," she said, though she was unsure whether Nick was referring to any work that needed to be done or the news that they were all waiting so impatiently for. The statement applied equally to both. "How long does this sort of thing usually take?" Warrick wanted to know. Catherine, who was the only one of the three with experience in this area, responded with, "First time, it could be a while."
Just then, police Detective Captain Jim Brass approached from the corridor. Nick and Warrick moved aside to let him into the office. Catherine looked up. "Please tell me you have something," she said. It wouldn't occur to her until later just how morbid that sounded. Brass shook his head. "I just came to see if there was any news," he told Catherine. "No such luck," Catherine replied. At that moment, the phone on Catherine's desk began to ring insistently. She answered it. "Willows," she said. "Yes. Uh-huh. Ok." The three men in the vicinity strained their ears, trying to hear the other end of the conversation. "Alright, thanks," Catherine said before hanging up. Three pairs of eyes turned towards her. Catherine smiled. "It's a girl."
Upon arriving at the hospital, Catherine and company found Sara Sidle lying in bed, cradling her new baby. Her husband, Gil Grissom, sat in a chair beside her. Their faces had the glow that is only found in new parents. "Hi, guys," Sara called as the party entered the room. Grissom immediately got everyone's attention. "Watch this," he said. Very gently, Grissom touched his finger to the center of his daughter's palm. They all watched as her tiny fingers closed around it. Grissom's face lit up like a kid at the gates of Disneyland. "It's a reflex action," Grissom said, and went on to explain in detail. They were saved from the science lesson when Nick's cell phone rang. "It's Greg," Nick informed everyone after checking the caller id. You could see the changeover immediately, the serious expressions that the visitors in the room adopted as they mentally prepared to get back to work. Nick answered the phone, fully expecting Greg to tell him that a case had been called into the lab. "Nick Stokes," Nick identified himself unnecessarily.
"Hey, did Sara have the baby?" Greg asked. "Judy, you know, the secretary, saw you guys all leaving the lab in a hurry."
"Yeah, she had the baby Greggo," Nick said, a touch of irritation in his voice. "But next time, you might want to wait 'til we get back to the lab to ask. You're lucky we weren't out in the field."
For a moment there was silence on the other end of the line. Clearly, Greg hadn't anticipated Nick's reaction to the call. Greg was good at what he did, but sometimes his enthusiasm caused him to overlook things that should've been obvious. It was little wonder that Greg hadn't graduated to field work yet.
"Ok, I'll see you guys when you get back then," Greg said. He quickly hung up before the hole he'd dug himself into could get any deeper. Nick put his cell phone away and turned to the other people in the room. "False alarm," he told them. No one there needed Nick to explain what he meant.
Catherine spoke up then. "We should probably head back anyway," she said. The rest of the group began saying their goodbyes to Sara and Grissom, congratulating them on the new arrival. "Does she have a name yet?" Warrick asked.
"Holly." Grissom answered softly. "We named her Holly." The visitors in the room all nodded and observed a moment of silence for the fallen CSI. "Holly Grissom," Catherine said at last, as if she was trying the name out to see how it sounded.
"Holly Elizabeth Grissom," the proud father corrected. Catherine wasn't all that surprised by the choice of middle name. It made sense to her that the couple would want to honor Grissom's mother that way.
As the group left the hospital, Catherine couldn't help but wonder what the future held in store for little Holly Elizabeth Grissom. One thing that Catherine knew for certain, the little girl would be loved. The fact that everyone had been so looking forward to her birth proved that. In fact, Catherine didn't doubt that Holly Elizabeth Grissom would soon become the little darling of the lab. All of them would just have to be careful not to spoil her too much.