Part 9


Gil walked into the bedroom that he now shared with Catherine and glanced at her. "Katie's home."

Catherine looked up sharply. "What did you tell her?"

"Nothing," he replied, sitting beside her. His hands gently cupped her face and forced her to look into his eyes. 'I want to ask you a question."

She looked at him through tear-stained eyes. "What?"

"I want you to let me tell Lindsey what happened when Katie was born. What happened BEFORE Katie was born."

Catherine moved away from him. "No."

"Cath…"

"I said no, goddammit!" she cried, turning her back on him. "For Gods sakes, he's dead! Why the hell do we want to bring that all up again?"

Gil gripped her forearm. "Because he may have loved that girl but he was a bastard to you. And you don't deserve Lindsey storing up all her hatred and taking it out on you, when it's not your fault."

"I deserve it and it is my fault."

He forced her to look at him. "No it's not, Catherine. Did you ask Eddie to beat you until you thought you were going to die? Did you ask him to cheat on you in your bedroom?"

"I cheated on him," she replied, looking down again. "I made love to you while I was still married to him." She sighed, wrapping her arms around herself. "I can't tell you the amount of times I wished it was you in that bedroom with me instead of him."

He kissed her gently on the forehead. "I know baby. But you tried to make that marriage work, I know you did. I watched you fight. And you were separated from him when we made love." His eyes darkened. "I watched you take off that wedding ring in my room."

"Lindsey believes that her dad was the greatest man on earth. I don't see why we should take that away from her," Catherine murmured, changing the subject.

Gil noted the change of subject, but decided not to press it further. "She needs to know, Catherine. One day she'll have to know and I think it should be now." He took a deep breath. "And I want to be the one to tell her."

Her eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Because right now, she's angry and hurting. And I think I should tell her because she might take it better." He smiled at her. "And I think you need a break."
************************************************************************

It was the next night at the lab. There had not been a chance for Gil to speak to Lindsey yet, and it bothered him. His other daughter was busy reading a case file in the DNA lab. That bothered him too. She seemed to gravitate towards that room everytime she was at CSI.

************************************************************************

"Greg? How long is it going to take? We don't have all night you know!" Sara was back harassing Greg, five minutes after she had left.

"I'm not a miracle worker."

"Greg! We need those results like two days ago!" Nick said, trudging into the lab.

"Okay! People! Normally I am all for being clamoured over, but generally that is by young women that adore me. So, give your superhuman lab tech some space, and I'll see what these magic fingers can come up with," Greg told them all.

With collective sighs, Nick and Sara disappeared again.

Katie continued reading the case file Warrick had given her. "So I like your tough act."

Greg looked up and stared at her. "What? Too much?"

Katie locked eyes with him and smirked. "Not enough."

Greg smiled back and then swivelled over on his lab chair so he was sitting next to her. "Um, I was thinking, maybe, you know, if you wanted to and you weren't busy…oh and provided your parents didn't kill me, if maybe you would, like to, I don't know…"

"Greg?" Katie asked, interrupting him.

"Yeah?"

"Are you asking me out?"

"I was heading that way, yeah."

"Yes, I will go out with you."

Warrick headed away from the door. This was gonna get interesting.

************************************************************************

Gil knocked on Lindsey's door the next day. Katie and Catherine had gone out to do some shopping.

"What?" came the sour voice from inside.

Gil opened the door and watched Lindsey sitting on her bed for a moment, where she was furiously flipping through a magazine. "I need to talk to you."

"Whatever."

He sat down on the bed. "It's about your mom and dad."

"Who cares?"

"You do, Lindsey, I know that. And I talked to your mom, and she said I can tell you the truth. All of it."

The magazine was put down and she looked at him. "Not just the edited for kids version?"

Gil nodded.

Lindsey folded her arms. "Fine. Go ahead."

"So, you know how your mom and dad met and got married?"

Lindsey nodded.

"Well, eighteen years ago, your mom and dad were together. I knew your mom back then." He watched her carefully, ready for any reaction. "Your mom and dad were married twice, Lindsey."

Her eyes narrowed. "Huh?"

"They got married very quickly after they first met. They were together for four years before they got divorced. Then just before you were born, they remarried."

"Why?"

"Have you heard of cocaine?"

Lindsey nodded. "It's a drug. Mom said that one time a long time ago she had some."

Gil nodded. "Yeah. And your dad took it too." He sighed. "Drugs make people turn very different, Lindsey. And your dad, well he became mad when he was on cocaine."

Realisation began to dawn on the girl. "Did he hurt anyone?"

"He hurt your mom, Linds. He hurt her very much."

Lindsey shook her head. "No. Daddy loved her. He told me."

"Drugs make people do very different things, Lindsey. Your mom would sometimes call me to come and get her."

"But what does that have to do with you and Mom having a baby?"

Gil sighed. "Lindsey, you need to understand that I've always loved your mom. I love her very much and I love you as well. And your mom told me that she told you that sex was something that you did with someone you loved very much, right?"

Lindsey nodded. "But…"

Gil raised a hand. "I know, she was married to your dad. When Katie was born, your mom and dad were separated. That's the period before divorce where they kind of take a break from each other." He sighed. "I'm not saying what happened was right, but I did love your mom. You have to know that, Lindsey."

"But what about later? Mom just took me and we left."

Gil rubbed his forehead. He hadn't realised how draining this could be. "Your mom came home one night and found your dad here with someone else."

"So?" Lindsey asked. She caught Gil's look. "Oh."

"Your mom was really upset at that time, Lindsey and that was the last straw. That's why she took you and left. She tried to make that marriage work, and I know because I watched her try."

"Why didn't she just tell me?"

"Because she loves you. And she knew how much you loved your dad."

Lindsey slid off the bed and stood on unsteady legs. "I want to see mom."

Gil nodded and smiled. "I'll go give her a call."

"Uncle Gil?"

He was about to leave the bed but turned back to her. "Mhm?"

She threw her arms around him and hugged him tight. "Thankyou."

"You're welcome, Lindsey." He smiled and headed off to the phone.

************************************************************************

Catherine stretched out on the bed, and smiled at Gil as he came in.

"I guess things went well between you and Lindsey?" he asked.

Her smile broadened. "Mhm. We had a long talk about love, sex, Eddie, me and you and even Katie. I think things are going to be okay now."

"I'm glad," he replied, sitting on the edge of the bed. "But now I need to talk to you."

The smile left her face. "What's the matter?"

"About the discussion you and I had the other day."

She shuffled up the bed slightly. "Which discussion?"

"You know which discussion, Cath." He sighed. "I wanted to apologise."

She looked upset. "What for? For making love? For loving me? For wanting to marry me?"

"No," he assured her quickly, pressing a kiss to her lips. "I would never regret any of those things. I just…I shouldn't have pushed you about wanting to have another baby."

Catherine shrugged it off, her eyes betraying her calm exterior. "It's fine."

"No, it's not," Gil said firmly. "I don't think I've ever really understood how hard it must have been for you to give her up. I can't imagine how hard it must have been and I hate that I wasn't there to help you."

She laid a hand on his arm. "I do want to make another baby with you, Gil. Very, very much. But…I need some time. Some time to be a mother to Katie and to understand her." Catherine smiled at him. "Give me that time…and we'll see what we can do." She manoeuvred herself to sit in his lap. "But we can practice, if you want."

He smiled. "Always."
************************************************************************

Part 10