Holidays at the Stokes Place

Pairing: Nick and Sara (Of course! I wouldn't have it any other way)

Nick and Sara visit the Dallas Museum of Natural History all by themselves (no relatives to accompany them). Two burning questions are also answered in this chapter. Do some animals have the Greg Sanders hairdo? What exactly is the 'Grissom Syndrome'?

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.

Visiting Grissom's Friends at the Museum

Nick treated his parents and wife to breakfast at his parents' favorite restaurant. Thomas and Cynthia went home while Nick and Sara were going to the Dallas Museum of Natural History. Sara wanted to pay for admission, but Nick had a membership card his mom lent him so they didn't have to pay the cost of admission.

"I can't believe your parents have a membership to the museum," Sara said. "My parents wouldn't spring for museum membership unless if it is something to do with folk music or the arts. If they open a hippie museum in San Francisco, they would be the first ones to apply for membership to that."

"They are members of various museums in Dallas," Nick said. "They believe in the sharing of knowledge and aesthetics."

"What do you want to check out first?" Sara asked.

"I definitely want to save Grissom's friends for last," Nick chuckled.

"What are you talking about?" Sara asked.

"I mean bugs," Nick said.

"Don't you remember he proposed to Catherine a few days ago?" Sara asked.

"Yeah, I remember that very well," Nick said. "The man likes to hang out with insects."

"I know that," Sara said. "He's going to have a stepdaughter that loves bugs as much as he does."

"I am sure Catherine will be looking forward to that," Nick beamed. "Let's check out the dinosaurs first. When I came here as a little boy, it was the first place I went to see. It drove my parents, brother and sisters nuts."

"I guess that would be almost every little boy's fantasy," Sara said.

"When I was a teenager, I started fantasizing about girls," Nick said. "When I was a 29 year old newly promoted Level 3 CSI, I saw you talk to Grissom as I was throwing dummies off the roof of a Vegas hotel. I started fantasizing about you!"

Sara didn't say a word. She was laughing hysterically at what Nick said. She immediately calmed down.

"Nicky, you are something else," Sara said. "However, I love you."

"I love you, too," Nick said. "Let's go to see some dinosaurs!"

When they got to the exhibition hall where the dinosaurs were located, Nick immediately reached for his camera. He took a photo of the skeleton of a tyrannosaurus rex in the middle of the hall. As a kid, he was in awe of it. Now as an adult, the sight still left him in awe. He and Sara checked out the interactive displays. They were not only educational and informative, but they were entertaining. Nick was like a kid in a candy store playing around with the equipment. They saw more dinosaur bones and some paper Mache dinosaurs.

"I should take you to New York," Sara said. "They have the American Museum of Natural History and it is an awesome place. It's not like the one here, but I am sure you will love it!"

"Why were you in New York?" Nick asked. "How long ago was this?"

"When I was with the San Francisco Crime Lab," Sara said. "It was a year before Grissom asked me to come to Vegas. I was attending a conference in New York. One day, I wanted to go to a museum and decided on the Natural History one. When you enter the main entranceway, you are greeted by a dinosaur's skeleton right smack in the middle of the admissions area. I even went to the planetarium."

"Wow, you must have had a great time there," Nick said and Sara nodded. "Maybe we should go to New York as a side trip while we are in Boston."

"That would be awesome," Sara said. "Where else in this museum you would like to check out before visiting Grissom's buddies?"

"I was thinking about going to visit the mammals," Nick said.

"Afterwards, we see the birds and Texas during the Ice Age," Sara said.

"Okay, let's go then," Nick said.

They spent about two hours looking at dioramas of mammals, birds and life in Ice Age Texas. They read the name of each animal, its genus and species and any facts about the animal. Nick took more pictures until he ran out of film. Sara kept extra film in her purse and gave Nick a roll of film to replace the one that was used. She hoped there was still enough film for the bugs. She had in her purse fifteen rolls of film for today.

"So, who are those photos going to be for?" Sara asked.

"Some are going to be for Lindsey," Nick said. "The rest are going to be for our colleagues,"

Suddenly, they saw a bird in one diorama that made Sara giggle almost uncontrollably.

"What is so funny?" Nick asked.

"Look at this bird!" Sara gently demanded.

"Wow, that bird reminds me of Greggo!" Nick almost shouted.

"Yeah, that crest looks a lot like Greggo's hair," Sara said. "Nick, take a picture of that bird. We can show to him and never let him live it down!"

"Sara Stokes, you are cruel!" Nick said as Sara shot him a scornful look. "I love it! Let me take two pictures."

"I think we should go back to the mammals," Sara said and Nick gave her an inquisitive look. "I thought I saw one that had the Greg Sanders hairdo."

"Sara, I took a picture of that one already," Nick said with a chuckle. "I can't wait to see the look on Greggo's face when we show him his 'cousins'."

"I love how you think, Nicholas Anthony Stokes," Sara said with a grin.

"I think we should go visit the Ice Age exhibit," Nick said. "I would like to know what my native Texas was like during that time."

"I would like to know that, too," Sara said. "Why don't we go and visit that exhibit. I don't think we will find anything or anyone with the Sander hairdo, but we'll learn something about our distant past."

"Watch out mammoth fossil," Nick said. "Here comes Nick and Sara."

"There is absolutely no way we are going to touch it," Sara said. "We will get in trouble for that."

"I meant we will have a several pictures of the mammoth," Nick gently corrected her.

"Ah, I see now," she said with a soft smile.

When they entered the room, they were greeted by a life size replica of some creature that existed during the Ice Age. Sara was kind of intimidated by that monstrosity. She was hoping Nick would shed some light on what that thing once was.

"That would be a relative of the armadillos we see today," Nick said. "The name escapes me, but let me look around and I will tell you what it is."

"It looks daunting," Sara said.

"Sara Stokes, scared of that animal?" Nick couldn't believe that giant would scare his own wife. "I don't believe this!"

"You tell anyone at the lab and my foot will have a nice encounter with that cute ass of yours," Sara said chuckling and Nick couldn't help laughing at her threat.

"It's called a Glyptodont," Nick said. "I can't imagine walking around the Dallas area these days with this monster lurking about. I am glad those armadillos are a lot smaller than we are."

"Okay, Discovery Channel Freak, what about going to the Dallas Zoo and seeing the mammoths there?" Sara said. "It would have freaked out our nieces and nephews."

Nick was slightly hurt by that 'Discovery Channel Freak' remark, but let it slide being that it came from Sara. If it was Warrick, Catherine, Dr. Robbins, Greg, Brass or Grissom, he would have taken great offense to that.

"I would have run out of that zoo in a New York minute," Nick said bluntly. "I doubt that something like that would have stayed in the enclosures for a long period of time."

"I would have done the same," Sara said.

They continued to look into the exhibit. Nick played around with the interactive 'toys' in the exhibit hall and so did Sara. Looking at the mammoth's skeleton gave the couple a sense of awe and intrigue. It was just fascinating to learn about prehistoric Dallas. Nick thought about Sara's proposition of going to New York just to visit the famous American Museum of Natural History. He wondered what creatures existed in prehistoric New York.

"I think it is time we pay Grissom's friends a visit," Sara said.

"I am not sure if I am up to it," Nick said. "The thought of seeing thousands kinds of insects will be intimidating."

"Nick, we will only see as much as we can," Sara said. "We have to photograph them and take notes for Grissom. Did you remember the notebooks and pens?"

"I have them in my bag," Nick smiled.

"I hope we aren't going to get the 'Grissom Syndrome' after we finish," Sara said as their entered the room where the collection was being housed.

"Excuse me, Sara," Nick said. "What do you mean by the 'Grissom Syndrome'?"

"We become like him after we check out these bugs," she said with a soft chuckle. "I think one of the symptoms is an obsession with looking at insects the way he does."

"Don't worry," Nick said. "We are going to be fine. I have something that will immunize us from it."

"What is it?" Sara was really curious about what he will do next.

He pulled her into an embrace and gave her the most passionate kiss ever.

"How's that for protection?" he beamed.

"That was awesome!" she said.

They spent an hour admiring, photographing and taking notes on the insects the looked at. Neither Sara nor Nick wanted to look through the entire collection. Just as many as possible would be fine. Maybe Grissom, Catherine and Lindsey could take a trip to Dallas and look at the rest. Whenever Nick ran out film, Sara gave him another roll of film. They had plenty of film left to photograph at least several dozen of those insects. Once they were satisfied with their crack research, they left the hall and were on their way out of the museum.

"So, did you have fun learning about Dallas' natural history?" Nick asked.

"I had a great time and it was very informative," Sara said. "I am surprised we didn't get the 'Grissom Syndrome' after looking at least twelve dozen kinds of bugs."

Nick laughed at the mention of the 'Grissom Syndrome'.

"I guess we were really safe from getting it," Nick smiled.

"I think that kiss worked wonders," Sara said.

"You know all that learning about natural history is making me hungry," Nick said. "What do you think about going for pizza? There is a pizzeria nearby that I used to go to when I was a CSI with the Dallas Police Department. I know that they are still in existence because a friend from the Dallas Crime Lab told me that he eats there twice a week. They make the best brick oven thin crust pizza in the Lone Star State."

"I think that will be great," she replied. "Tell you what let's go find a place to develop the film. While we wait, we shall go for pizza. What do you think?"

"You read my mind," Nick said with a grin.

They took a bus to a photo shop that was nearest to Nick's favorite pizzeria. Once they were inside, they dropped off the film. When asked for their contact information, Nick and Sara gave the cashier their cell phone numbers as well as Nick's parents' home number. The cashier told them that the photos should be ready on New Year's Eve and she gave them a receipt for pick up. Both Nick and Sara thanked her and they left the shop.

"They are going to have a field day developing all that film," Sara said. "I can't believe we took so many pictures today."

"Hey, we take a lot of pictures everyday," Nick said. "That's part of our job. You are right, the photo shop staff will enjoy the job we gave them. I just hope they don't freak out when they see the bugs."

"Nick, you might be surprised of what people are interested in," Sara said. "Our boss not only is into bugs, but also likes to collect specimens. I don't want to go there with what they are for fear of losing our appetites."

"I know what you are talking about," Nick said. "I completely understand why it shouldn't be mentioned. Come on, let's have some pizza."

After they arrived at the pizzeria, they were seated and the order was taken. The smell of pizzas cooking hit them. When their pizza finally arrived, they each took one slice before having another and started eating and drinking their iced tea. They talked about the experience at the museum and the zoo. For dessert, they split a brownie sundae. Sara asked for the check, paid it and left a generous tip. Sara now knew why Nick loved coming to the pizzeria when he lived in Dallas. It was excellent. They left the pizzeria and took a cab back to Stokes Manor.

TBC