Holidays at the Stokes Place
Pairing: Nick and Sara (Of course! I would have it any other way!)
Nick and Sara go to Texas to spend the Holidays with his family.
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Sara, Nick or any other mentioned character on CSI. If I did own Sara and Nick, they would have been hooked up and hitched already! (Writers of the show: take notice!) However, I do own Nick's family.
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Arriving at Texas and Coming Home
After Nick and Sara's flight arrived at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, everybody got off the plane. Both Sara and Nick were both exhausted from the flight despite sleeping through almost the entire duration until one of the flight attendants woke them up. They were looking forward to sleeping in a bed again. It didn't matter if it was at their apartment or Nick's parents' house, they wanted to sleep. They made it down to the baggage claim and waited to get the luggage.
Meanwhile on the arrivals waiting area, Cynthia Stokes and her husband Thomas, Sr. were waiting impatiently. They were looking forward to seeing their youngest son and daughter-in-law since they haven't seen them for Thanksgiving. Cynthia really missed having him around that holiday since her numerous grandchildren adore his antics. If there was one way to convince her daughter-in-law to visit Thanksgiving, she would be happy.
"What is taking Nick and Sara so long?" Thomas, Sr. asked impatiently. "Their flight from Las Vegas arrived here twenty minutes ago! They should be here with us already!"
"For heaven's sake, Thomas Stokes, relax!" Cynthia said. "Our baby boy and his wife are waiting for their luggage. Have some patience!"
Nick and Sara, along with their luggage approached the older couple. Cynthia had her arms around Nick in an embrace. Thomas, Sr. embraced his exhausted daughter-in-law.
"Our baby boy and daughter-in-law had just arrived!" Cynthia said happily. "I can't believe they are here."
"I am just happy to be home for the holidays," Nick said. "What makes it even more special is coming home to my family and having my beautiful wife with me."
"Nick, stop it!" Sara said giving him a gentle slap in the arm.
"It's true," Nick said. "Isn't it?"
"How was your flight?" Cynthia asked changing the subject.
"We were asleep for most of the flight," Sara said. "It wasn't until we were awaken by the flight attendant that we found out we were approaching the airport."
"Sara and I are both tired," Nick said. "Let's just get home so we can catch up on some sleep."
They all went to Thomas' car. He put Nick and Sara's luggage in the trunk. Cynthia sat in front with her husband while Sara and Nick were in the back. They were on their way to the house.
"I don't think I can stay awake any longer," Nick whispered to Sara.
"Neither can I," she whispered back.
"As soon as we get to my parents' place," Nick whispered. "I don't care if we have to change into our sleepwear or not, we are going to sleep once we are in bed."
As soon as they arrived at the house, Thomas took the suitcase and garment bag from the trunk. He followed his wife, son and daughter-in-law into the house. Sara walked around the living room and looked the numerous photos on the walls, lamp tables and mantle. There were photos of all the Stokes siblings as babies, kids, teenagers and adults. She was drawn to the one of a little boy of around three years of age. It could have been Nick's brother Thomas, Jr., but the clothes and hairstyle were from the mid 1970s and not the early 1960s.
"That was me when I was little," Nick said.
"You were so cute then," Sara said. "You had that Stokes charm even as a little boy."
"Thank you," Nick said as he turned around and saw a recent, yet familiar picture on the wall. "Oh my God, I can't believe mom and dad did it!"
"Did what?" Sara asked.
"They hung a picture of you and me posing on our wedding day," Nick said. "Mom was saving that spot for my, I mean our, wedding photo."
"Nick, Sara, I have your room ready," Cynthia said. "Your luggage is in the closet. I know the two of you are tired and didn't sleep much. I will let you sleep, but not too long. Tom and his family are coming over tonight for dinner."
"What about Kathleen, Wendy, Sabrina, Heather, Marissa and their families?" Nick asked yawning. "When are they coming?"
"Your sisters and their families are coming tomorrow for Christmas Eve," Cynthia said. "Nick, you and Sara are tired. I think the two of you should get some rest."
"You're right," Nick said.
Ten minutes later, Nick was in his old bedroom. It was different from the last time he set foot in it. It used to be a teenage boy's/young man's ideal bedroom. Now it converted to a guestroom for a young married couple. He was joined by Sara who got lost finding the room.
"My brother and his family are coming for dinner tonight," Nick said.
"I know," Sara said. "Your mother told me."
"Let's just catch up on some sleep," Nick said. "After all, we worked a double shift yesterday. We need to recover from this before Tom arrives."
Sara didn't argue with her husband. After removing their shoes, they lay down on top of the bed still in their street clothes. Nick pulled Sara closer to him and wrapped his arm around her in embrace. They kissed several times.
"I love you, Sara," Nick cooed.
"I love you, too, Nick," Sara said and they both drifted off to sleep.
Cynthia saw the door open and looked inside to see Nick and Sara asleep in each other's arm. Why couldn't they have gone under the covers, she thought. She went to the linen closet and grabbed an old, yet well-preserved, crochet blanket. She returned to the guestroom that was formerly Nick's bedroom and gently placing over the young sleeping couple.
Nick woke up two hours later to the smell of his mother's cooking and the sound of his brother's voice. He rubbed his eyes and had a slightly dazed look on his face. Sara woke up five minutes later after hearing Cynthia or some other woman happily shouted something.
"Oh shit, Tom and his family have arrived!" Nick said.
"Have we been out that long?" Sara asked.
"Yes, for about two hours," Nick said. "We have to get up go downstairs and greet them. Sara you had better brush out your hair because you look like a wild woman."
"Yours could some brushing, too, my wild man," Sara replied.
After they got up from bed, they fixed themselves up. Nick was the first one going downstairs followed by Sara.
"Nicky, you are finally here!" Thomas, Jr. said as he gave Nick a bear hug. "When did you and that lovely lady of yours, Sara, get here from Vegas?"
"Tom, release me and we will talk," Nick said and briefly coughed after his brother released him. "Sara and I have been here since 6:30 in the evening. We were both tired from the flight and we rested. Where is Sara? And where are Audrey and the kids?"
"It looks like Audrey and the kids went to the car," Tom said. "It looks like Sara went to meet them."
A few seconds later, Sara returned with Audrey. Tom and Audrey's three kids come inside after having a little fight over who entered first. Tom grabbed Audrey in a gentle embrace and gave her a peck on the cheek. He then grabbed Sara in an embrace.
"Tom, you had better be gentle with Sara," Nick said. "She's very delicate."
"Delicate, my ass!" Sara exclaim. "Tom, how have you been?"
"Could be better," Tom said. "Could be worse. How are my favorite CSIs from Vegas doing?"
"We are fine, but tired," Nick said before Sara could talk. "We pulled a double shift yesterday and we are still recovering from it. Day shift is taking over for us this week and next week it will be Swing shift."
"Your entire shift is taking two weeks off!" Tom said. "How did your boss, Gil Grissom pull something like that?"
"I really don't know," Nick said bluntly. "I guess it was a moment of lucidity."
"Ah, it doesn't matter," Tom said. "You are here and that what matters the most!"
"Nick, Sara, you missed an excellent Thanksgiving," Audrey said changing the subject. "It was a pity that you went to San Francisco. No offense, Sara, but a Thanksgiving with the Stokes family is livelier than the one you went to."
"I know we missed it," Nick said. "We heard about it from Marissa the Mouth. I told her that it was Sara's family that invited us for Thanksgiving. She still made us feel guilty about missing out on the annual Stokes Family Thanksgiving festivities. Next year, Sara and I will come here for Thanksgiving."
Nick left for then den to talk to his teenage nieces and nephew.
"Audrey, I didn't take offense to what you said about my family," Sara said. "It was a depressing Thanksgiving. It was just my parents, my older brother, his ever annoying wife and two pre-teenage monsters that are my niece and nephew. Those kids almost drove every adult in the house nuts. I swear they will grow up to cause crime scenes in the Bay Area or become ones themselves. You have no idea how many times poor Nick wanted to kill them, but he showed great restraint since he is part of my family, too. He didn't want to anger his in-laws anymore than the little imps did. Nick and I couldn't wait to get back to Vegas and solve cases that Grissom assigns to us. I am looking forward to having fun at next year's Stokes Thanksgiving feast."
"Sara, you are a Stokes now," Cynthia said. "Now be a dear and help us set the table. Dinner is almost ready! Tom, call Nick, Eliana, Trey, and Louise and tell them to come and help here."
After the table was set, everyone was seated and ready to eat. Nick and Sara sat across from each other. Food was served and conversations were taking place between bites and sips.
"Eliana, Tom was telling us that you are going to college next year," Sara said. "May I ask what schools you are considering?"
"Aunt Sara, I have applied to about five schools," Eliana said. "They are Rice University, Harvard, State University of New York or SUNY at Stony Brook, UCLA and Connecticut."
"Wow, that's a very diverse range of schools," Nick said. "You know that Rice is your Uncle Nick's Alma Mater and Harvard is your Aunt Sara's."
"Yes, I know that, Uncle Nicky," Eliana said. "If the two of you ask if I mentioned I had a relative that attended the two schools in question, yes I did. I don't know if it would help or not. I also mentioned in my application to Stony Brook that my mother attended that school as an undergraduate."
"I want to go to Stony Brook," Thomas Stokes III, AKA Trey smirked.
"Shut up, Freshman," Eliana said. "Wait until you are a junior to start thinking about where you want to go!"
"Eliana, people are saying that it is never too early to plan for college," Audrey said. "Do you remember we had that mother and daughter trip to New York to visit my Alma Mater?"
"That was two years ago," she said. "I remember that we checked out New York City for a week. During that time, we hopped on the LIRR and-"
"Excuse me, Eliana, what's the LIRR?" Nick asked.
"LIRR stands for Long Island Rail Road," Eliana said. "Anyway, we visited the university and I was impressed. Mom said that the school changed from when she was a student. It was a beautiful campus."
"So what have you decided?" Thomas asked his granddaughter.
"Gramps, I have only applied to the schools," she said. "I am waiting for that letter that says: accepted, rejected or waiting list."
"Eliana, I am sure those school will accept you," Nick said.
"Thanks, Uncle Nicky," she grinned. "Let's talk about something else. Aunt Sara, Uncle Nick, are you getting a lot of interesting cases to solve?"
"Sara and I like to think that each case we work on is interesting in its own way," Nick said.
Don't even think about mentioning cases involving decomps, Sara thought. Not when everyone is eating. Come to think of it, those cases shouldn't even be mentioned at all.
"We deal with mostly homicides," Nick said. "However, we have solved breaking and entering cases, robbery and assault."
"Do you work together all the time?" Louise asked. "Or does the boss give you different people to work with?"
"We work together as a team," Sara said. "Sometimes Nick and are with other colleagues."
"Yeah, there is this one guy that is our lab rat," Nick said and he felt a jab in leg courtesy of Sara. "I mean, he is our lab tech who is a wannabe CSI. This kid helps us solve cases and interprets evidence. Sometimes we let him tag along on our cases, but mostly he is in the lab."
"Nick likes to tease him a lot," Sara said. "I don't get involved in that department unless if I am dragged into it."
"It sounds like you have a lot of fun at work," Trey said.
Everyone finished with the main course. Nick, Sara and Eliana helped Cynthia with bringing the dirty dishes and other utensils to be washed. Cynthia gave Nick nine dessert plates. He returned to bring the same number of saucers. Sara was given the cups, but carried only two at a time until everyone got one. Eliana brought dessert forks and small spoons. Cynthia brought to the table a tiramisu and started serving a small portion to everyone. She also made coffee and heated water for tea. Sara brought an assortment of teabags.
Nick took a slow sip of his coffee. Although Greg made delicious coffee that everyone at the LVPD's crime lab loved, nothing could rival his mother's coffee. Sara debated whether to have tea or coffee with her tiramisu. She looks at her husband enjoying his cup of coffee and decided to try a cup.
"Just so you know," Cynthia said. "I didn't buy the tiramisu from a bakery, I made it myself. And it was my first attempt of making it. I got the recipe off the Food Network website. I hope you like it."
The chatter continued from complimenting Cynthia Stokes' first try at tiramisu to sports to nonpolitical current events. Eventually the excitement was dwindling and it was time for Tom and his family to go home. They said their good nights to Cynthia, Thomas, Sr., Sara and Nick. The older Mr. and Mrs. Stokes went upstairs first and they went to bed. Since Nick and Sara offered to do the dishes, they would wash, dry and put them away. Nick started to yawn.
"Okay, Cowboy, let's get to bed," Sara said. "We have a big day tomorrow with our family. Here is an incentive, tonight they're showing some British comedies on BBC America."
Nick followed her sheepishly to their bedroom. They got themselves ready for bed and were already under the covers. Even though they were both sleepy before, they couldn't pass up on Monty Python's Flying Circus.
"There is just something about these guys that no matter how many times you see them," Sara said. "The humor never gets stale."
"They are some of the best," Nick said. "Do you remember when Brass invited the entire team to his place to watch 'The Holy Grail.'?" Sara nodded. "We were all watching it in silence and laughing at the right moments. Warrick, Catherine, you and I were clapping to that 'Knights of the Round Table' song. Greg must have seen that movie at least a hundred times more than we had because he was saying the lines along with the characters, including the female characters. Warrick nearly killed him."
"As memory serves me correctly," Sara said. "You smacked him in the back of his head to get him to shut up."
"We all had a great time considering the lab rat's inability to behave himself," Nick said with a chuckle. "Even Brass and Grissom told him to stop speaking like those 'bloody peasants'."
When the closing credits were rolled, Nick and Sara were already asleep. Nick woke up briefly to turn off the television. He went back to sleep with his arm around Sara's waist. Tomorrow was a big day for the Stokes family.
TBC
