Nick was pretty pleased with himself as he left the mall. His plan was moving in perfect precision; the parts that didn't require Sara's participation that is. They hadn't talked much about marriage, but Nick was certain that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and he was ready to make a complete fool out of himself to let her know that. He just hoped that he could pull it off and make it a surprise and that she said 'yes'.

He had just climbed into his Denali with the ring securely in his pocket and the Build-A-Bear in its cardboard carrying case when his cell phone rang. "Stokes."

The voice on the other end was none other than the lady in question. "Hey, I stopped by your house on the way home, but you weren't there." There was disappointment in Sara's voice.

"I was just out running some errands." This was one time Nick wished that the double Sara thought she was going to have to pull had actually been a double. Ever since they'd been put on different shifts he had a harder time keeping track of when she was supposed to be done working.

"Are you coming home soon, or should I just head back to my apartment?" Sara had that tone, the one that told him that she'd had a tough case or Grissom had done or said something to piss her off or both.

"Are you there now?" Nick knew that she probably was and that she had a key, so he was going to have a little problem getting the bear into his house where he'd planned to hide it and he couldn't exactly leave it in the SUV.

"Yeah." She sounded wistful, and Nick knew that tone all too well.

Usually when she sounded like that it excited him, this time, it just made him incredibly nervous. He had to find a way to get the bear in the house without her knowing about it. "I'll be home soon."

"How soon?" She wasn't grilling him; she just needed to see him.

Nick let out a soft chuckle. "In about fifteen or twenty minutes."

"Have you eaten?" Sara needed something to distract her until Nick got home.

"No, I haven't. Have you?" Nick knew she really didn't take care of herself very well, and when she was working she could forget to eat; not to say that she couldn't eat like a wrestler trying to make weight when she did eat.

"No." Sara was already formulating in her mind what Nick probably had in his fridge. "I'll make something, just hurry up and come home."

Nick couldn't help but smile. "I'll be there soon. I love you."

"I love you too." Sara's voice indicated that she was smiling too.

Nick hung up the phone still smiling until he realized that the bear was still sitting next to him. There was no way she was not going to see that if she decided to go home, and if she decided she wanted to stay, that was going to complicate things too. He let out a sigh. He wanted to ask her to marry him, but he hadn't planned on doing it quite this soon.

When he arrived home, he decided to just leave the bear in the Denali until he could figure out how to get it in the house without her seeing it. As he walked in the door, he could tell from the look on her face and the amount of food she was cooking that her shift had been hellish. He walked into the kitchen and snaked his arms around her waste. "Hey." He planted a kiss on her cheek and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"I hope you like eggplant. You don't have very much in your refrigerator and I didn't know what else to make that sounded good. The sauce is just from a jar, but I did find some linguine we can toss with it." Sara's rambling gave Nick a good indication that she was on the verge of tears.

"Sara." Nick's voice was soft and gentle. "Leave the food for a minute, ok?"

"It's almost done and then we can eat." Despite the fact that Nick's arms were wrapped around her waist, Sara was stiff. Something was definitely on her mind.

"I'll set the table then." Nick acquiesced and pulled away, moving towards the cupboard to get a couple of plates.

As soon as he moved, Sara sniffled. "Nick."

"Yeah?" There was just something about the way she sounded that stopped Nick in his tracks.

"What if this doesn't work?" She was full of self doubt.

Nick wasn't sure exactly what she was talking about and hoped she wasn't talking about them. "What if what doesn't work?" He wanted to be clear on what she meant and he stepped towards her and rested his hands on her shoulders.

"Us." Sara's voice was small.

Nick turned her around to face him and looked into her eyes. "I love you, Sara."

"I know, I love you too." Sara didn't look completely convinced.

"Then what's the problem?" He really didn't know why she seemed so full of doubt.

Sara let out a frustrated sigh and looked away from him. "Grissom said something." She began to bite her lower lip and wouldn't meet Nick's gaze.

Nick clenched his jaw for a moment. He had a great deal of respect for Grissom, but every once in a while his mentor would say something that indicated that he hadn't really thought before opening his mouth. "What did he say?" Nick tried to keep his voice soft, belying how he was feeling inside.

"He said that my relationship with you could hinder both of us professionally, that even though we were working different shifts, that Ecklie wasn't thrilled about it." Sara looked upset and let out another sniffle.

A myriad of swear words ran through Nick's mind, but fortunately none of them made it to his mouth. He simply pulled Sara into his arms and whispered in her ear. "Sara, you are more important to me than career advancement. I don't care what Ecklie or Grissom say."

"But I don't want you to miss out because of me, Nick." Sara knew that Nick's career had great potential and she was frustrated that a relationship with her would limit his future.

Nick was a bit dumbfounded. He pulled away from Sara and looked into her eyes. "Stay right here, I left something in the Denali that I need to show you."