Feasibility Study
Written by: Ms Maggs / Edited by: KJT
"Night and Day – Part 2"
July 29, 2005 (Day 98)
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
1:05 p.m. Central
At the baggage claim, while Carrie looked for their luggage, Nick held his cell phone to his ear waiting for someone to pick up at his parents' house. "Mom! It's Nicky."
"Hello, stranger." She scolded in a loving tone. "I'm surprised you remembered the phone number."
He sighed, knowing she was disappointed. "It's been a while since I called."
"Or visited."
"That's why I'm calling!" Leaning against the wall, he dropped his carryon. "I'm at Dallas International. I'm coming to see you and Dad."
"Fantastic! Dad is out of town, but I'll call your sisters, and I'll have Maria prepare your favorite dinner and..."
"Mom! Hold up." Watching Carrie from across the luggage carousel, he suddenly felt bad for springing his family on her. "I'm bringing someone with me so I'd kinda like to keep it low key for her sake."
"Are you bringing a girl home to meet us? You've never done that before, Nicky." The questions came fast. "Does this mean my baby boy is finally settling down? Is she educated? Is she a liberal? Does she have a ring on her finger?"
Shaking his head, he replied, "Yes, yes, yes, yes, and not yet, but hopefully soon." Her joyous shriek was so loud he had to pull the phone from his ear. "We'll be there in about an hour, Mom. Love you. Bye." When he tucked his cell phone away he sighed. "This is going to be interesting." For a moment, he considered proposing before he introduced her to the family, just so she'd be locked into the deal because he knew his sisters had an arsenal of information on him and wouldn't hesitate to spill it all to Carrie.
From the carousel, Carrie yelled over, "Is there a big burly Texan who can help this li'l lady with her bags?"
Before Nick could reply, two men in cowboy hats rushed to Carrie's rescue.
"We'd be happy to, Miss." The one in the black hat replied through a million watt smile.
Flustered by the rugged men in rodeo gear grabbing the luggage, she giggled. "Oh! I…thank you but…"
"Hey!" Nick hurried over. "Sorry fellas, but the lady was talking to me."
"Sorry for the misunderstanding." The men tipped their hats before walking away.
"You're not in Vegas anymore, Sweetie." Nick kissed her cheek. "You play 'little lady looking for a cowboy' and the longhorns will stampede."
Downtown Vegas
12:20 p.m. Pacific
Driving the truck back from the scene with Mindy, Sara realized she hadn't eaten anything since nibbling on her chocolate chip muffin this morning. "You ready for a quick break? I'm starving."
"You must be, because my sister is pregnant and she needs to eat ten times a day and you haven't eaten once." Realizing her mistake, she apologized. "I'm so sorry. It's none of my business."
"It's okay. Trust me, I know it's hard to tune out the gossip." Sara flashed a reassuring smile. "I didn't get married because I got pregnant."
Relieved she didn't blow it with the temporary boss, Mindy smiled. "To answer your question, yes, I'm hungry too. I'm a vegetarian though so if we could…."
"Me too."
"Well…my aunt and uncle have a restaurant about a block from here called The Madras Café and they do take out."
"I used to get take out from there all the time!" Back when I had absolutely no social life. I'd come home alone, eat some take out and wish I had someone to talk to about my day. Not missing those times! "Yeah, let's do it." She turned the corner and parked in front of the eatery.
When they left the truck, Mindy said, "I should warn you about my uncle, he's pretty old school. He doesn't like me being a CSI." She opened the door. "You'll see."
When they walked inside, Sara breathed in the curry and craved everything on the menu simultaneously. Hmm…maybe there is hope that test will be positive next week.
"Hi, Uncle." Mindy greeted the man behind the counter.
Heated words in a Bombay accent flew from the man's mouth. "Well if it isn't my crazy niece Jasminder, who runs around playing super cop, trying to find prints of fingers and picking through trash cans. How many times do I have to tell you that no man will ever marry a woman who carries a gun? And look at your hair! Where is all your hair?"
"It's called a bob, Uncle."
"A woman with a haircut named after a man?" Throwing his arms in the air, he shouted, "What does that mean?"
Sara immediately understood what Mindy meant about her uncle being old school.
"Uncle, this is my co-worker, Sara. She carries a gun and she's married."
Happy for the opportunity to display her wedding band, Sara thrust her left hand forward.
"To a man?"
"Yes." Chuckling, Sara replied. "A wonderful man as a matter of fact. I couldn't be happier."
Mindy's uncle groaned. "Then why are you still working instead of having babies?"
"I'm a good multi-tasker." When the man huffed off, Sara turned to her co-worker. "So, Jasminder is your full name."
"Yeah, I thought Mindy would get me picked on less but they started calling me Minnie, which I hate."
"A new nickname might help. Something more…" Sara considered it for a moment. "How about Jas?"
"I like that."
"Okay, Jas, you do the ordering, but lunch is on me." Pointing to the door, she said, "I'm going to check my messages. Be right back."
The Grissoms'
12:30 Pacific
Upon entering the house, Grissom walked straight to the kitchen and stuck the container of chilled cheesecake in the fridge, while wondering what exactly he was supposed to do with it.
It was a familiar old routine…come home alone carrying one take out box and have no one to talk to about the day. Then he saw his wedding ring and remembered, the solitude was only temporary, the take out would be shared with his wife, and they would most certainly discuss the day's events.
Noting the voicemail light on the phone, he turned on the speaker and played the message.
Mr. Grissom this is Lauren from Dr. Roth's office…
"Not again." He gripped the edge of the counter and lowered his head in shame.
I'm calling to let you know you missed your twice rescheduled appointment. Only because I realize your job with the crime lab is unpredictable at times am I willing to try this again. Please call to reschedule your hearing evaluation as soon as you get this message. A bill for the missed appointment is in the mail. Thank you.
Then he remembered the one advantage to solitude…no one to yell at you. Recalling Sara's reaction when he forgot the last appointment, he reached to delete the message so the wife wouldn't have a fit. But at the last second he paused, thinking…I really do need a kick in the ass about this because I know I'm avoiding it. Hmm…
Sixty seconds later he hit the delete button and set off for the bedroom to get some much needed rest.
As he walked through the bedroom door unbuttoning his shirt, the house phone rang so he walked over to the dresser to grab the cordless. "Hello there." He looked forward to hearing her voice.
"Hi. I was calling to see how was your doctor's appointment went."
His mouth dropped open. Apparently with marriage, came a sixth sense…ability to bust your husband.
"Honey?" She said, "Can you hear me? Is my cell…"
"Yes. Uh…the doctor's office called to reschedule." It wasn't a lie. He just didn't say why they had to reschedule.
"Why did they have to reschedule?"
Unbelievable! "You know, it was one of those mishaps. Um…how is your work day going, Honey?" Hopefully she'd be eager to talk about herself, because lying about the appointment wasn't an option and telling the truth would make her angry.
"It's going great! I mean, everyone is still talking crap about me, but the actual job part is awesome. You want to hear a little about the case we're working?"
Happy to be off the hook, he enthusiastically replied, "Absolutely."
Dallas
2:35 Central
In the back of the taxi, Nick gave Carrie's hand a squeeze. "Don't worry, my mom is going to love you."
"You think?" She was trembling in anticipation.
"I didn't want to mention this because well…it sounds kind of creepy but, you are very similar to my mom in a lot of ways."
"It's not creepy." Chuckling, she said, "But I'll let you know if I think it's a compliment after I meet your mom."
"You won't have to wait long, here we are."
As the taxi navigated the circular driveway, Carrie exclaimed, "My gosh, Nick, your parents' home is…enormous." The gorgeous red brick ranch with a six car garage and rolling green lawn dominated the neighborhood.
"I'm glad you fell in love with me before you knew about the family fortune." He didn't even have the cab door open before ten adults and twelve children rushed out of the house, down the stairs and towards the vehicle.
Carrie's eyes flew open as she watched them all flapping their arms and heard them excitedly shouting. "This is like that scene from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. All that's missing is a lamb on a spit in the front yard."
"What can I say…they like me," Nick cracked a huge grin and helped his future fiancée out of the cab. "Hi, everyone. This is Carrie Blake."
"Carrie!" They all shouted back before swarming her.
"I'm here too," Nick yelled as they ignored him.
Crime Lab
3:56 p.m. Pacific
Sara walked into the lab with the Rickert file, pleased to find Nina alone in the room. "Hi. I got your request. Can you tell me why you want to close the Rickert case?"
Without looking up from the microscope, she replied, "Because we've got nothing and there's nothing to get."
"You only went to the apartment once."
"I'm thorough." She snapped.
Setting the file down on the counter, Sara said, "I only claim I'm thorough when I find an answer."
Looking up, Nina folded her arms across her chest. "Well I'm not you. I bet there are a lot of things you do, that I would find...inappropriate."
"We are still talking about work, right?"
"Work related matters." Relentless in her desire to speak her mind, she postured. "You want an example of a difference between you and me?"
"I'd love one." Sara stiffened, readying herself for whatever was coming.
Through a smile, Nina delivered her low blow. "I didn't sleep with my supervisor to get to CSI 3."
"Excuse me?" Sara was aghast at the bold accusation. Until now everything was behind her back or less severe.
"Do you have a hearing problem? Because I thought my statement was crystal clear." Standing up, Nina postured. "No one else has the guts to say it to your face, but they're all thinking it."
Fighting to retain her composure, Sara replied, "I didn't get where I am by sleeping anywhere. I got where I am by losing sleep working cases." Stepping closer, her tone heated. "You know who I gave it to all these years? The victims. I gave them my blood, sweat and quite often my tears."
Not impressed, Nina huffed, "Yeah…how are you going to prove that?"
Sara grabbed the file and flipped it open. "How about I start with pointing out how you missed critical evidence in the Rickert case. Look at this photo. Did you collect all the evidence in this photo?"
Nina begrudgingly glanced at it.
When she didn't get an answer, Sara kept going. "I went over the inventory and can answer the question for you. Your answer is no. Not very thorough, were you?" She slapped the file back on the table. "I hope you didn't have any plans for after shift because you're heading back to that apartment." With that, she marched out of the lab.
Once in the hallway, she heard Brass's voice. "The ol' Sara Sidle dominatrix smack down."
"Too unprofessional?" Sara cringed.
"Are you kidding?" He came to her side. "I'm one proud papa."
The Stokes' Kitchen
7:30 p.m. Central
While Carrie was in the pool with two of his sisters and their kids, Nick sat at the kitchen table with his mom.
"Want a chocolate chip cookie?" She teased, as she tucked her thick brown hair behind her ears. "Maria made a fresh batch today."
"Actually, yes." He hoped the familiar ritual would put him at ease for popping the question later tonight.
Always happy to please her baby boy, she got up from the table. "Carrie is a fantastic woman."
"I'm a lucky guy."
"Yes, you are, considering how flakey you've always been with women. I've never understood that about you Nicky, because you're so responsible in every other way." Shaking her head, she grabbed a plate from the cabinet and set the cookies on it.
Of course she didn't and there was no sense in telling her his secret now, it would only devastate her. "I know some of my behavior disappointed you but, things are different now and well…can we just agree the past is the past?"
"Yes, of course." Smiling she placed the plate in front of him. "Carrie sounds like a brilliant attorney. I tried to trip her up a few times and had no success."
"She's way smarter than me I'm afraid." He laughed. "And yet, she still wants me…or so I'm hoping to confirm later tonight."
"Milk?"
"Why not go for the whole memory?"
"In that case, should I fetch your old blankie from storage?"
Laughing, he dropped his head in his hand. "I don't think we have to go that far."
Setting the glass of milk on the table, she took her seat. "You're absolutely sure about proposing, right? You do understand that Stokes men marry for life?"
"Yes, ma'am." He raised his glass. "I've never been more certain about anything in my life."
"I love you, Nicky." Out of nowhere, tears welled up in her eyes.
"I love you too, Mom." Reaching out, he placed his hand on hers.
"You're the last one…my baby." Chuckling, she wiped her tears. "I can't believe I'm blubbering like this. I have a reputation, you know."
"Toughest PD this town will ever see." Nick handed her his napkin. "Here you go, hard ass."
"Better I get it out now than at the wedding when there are photographers." She sniffled. "Are you going to have a big wedding?"
"Mom!" He brought his index finger to his mouth. "Don't jinx me, I haven't even proposed yet. She could say no."
"If she breaks your heart, she'll have to answer to this old broad and it won't be pretty. No one hurts my baby boy and gets away with it."
Grabbing a cookie, he smiled, "Thanks, mom."
"Maria made the cookies." She dotted her eyes one more time.
His voice cracked. "No…for everything you've ever done for me."
"Nicholas Graham Stokes, stop making me cry!" She lunged for another napkin. "Don't make me send you to your room."
"Uh oh…the middle name. I'm in trouble."
The Grissoms'
7:35 p.m. Pacific
Sara sailed into the house on cloud nine. After a fantastic first day as acting supervisor, she couldn't wait to enjoy her first evening at home with her husband…even if it was only for two hours. "I'm home!" She had called ten minutes ago and given him an ETA as he requested.
"I'm in my office." Grissom flatly replied.
Slightly disappointed that he didn't rush to see his bride, she turned down the hall to find him. Once in the doorway of his office, her disappointment grew. There he was, head buried in paperwork, still wearing his black velour bath robe from after his shower. "Hi," She greeted in a gloomy tone.
"Sorry, Honey, I didn't see you there." He didn't get up from his chair. "I noticed something on this report and it's bugging me. I hope you don't mind. I need about a half hour."
Stunned they would be losing one-fourth of their time together today, she stammered. "Sure…um…okay. You have to do it, right?"
"Afraid so." Looking up, he asked, "Weren't you going to shower anyway?"
"Yeah." She forced a smile. "I'll uh…grab a shower and we'll catch up after you finish your work."
His head already back in the stack of papers, he replied, "Thanks."
Deflated, she moped down the hallway toward the bedroom. Work is work but this was their first evening together at home as husband and wife. He seemed so excited about it this morning. Brushing it off as a personality quirk, she sighed. After all, she was a perfectionist too and had been known to get caught up in details to the point of excluding the world around her. But damn! Her bruised ego countered. Don't rationalize this! You only have two hours and this is a special evening. He could have at least got up off his ass and kissed you hello.
Just when she was about to accept married life as anti-climatic, she opened the door of the bedroom and was overwhelmed by the flicker of candles and the scent of Vanilla Bean Noel wafting in the air. "He tricked me," she mumbled as she headed for the tub.
Once inside the bathroom suite, she broke into an uncontainable grin of delight. The marble garden tub was filled with bubbles. On one corner of the tub were a dozen red roses, on another, a glass of herbal iced tea, on the third, a copy of Entomology Today, and in the last corner, a note labeled, To my wife…
After rapidly shedding her clothes, she slipped into the steaming tub of sweetly scented water, releasing a blissful sigh.
Reaching over, she grabbed the note…
My beautiful wife,
I believe you'll find everything you requested in order to relax after a long day at the office…a bubble bath, some herbal tea and a good read. The flowers were my idea. I hope you enjoy your Happy Hour. I'll check on you in a few minutes just in case you require any additional items or services.
- Your loving husband
She read the sentiment a second time while sipping the rejuvenating tea.
Placing the note back in its corner, she stared at the words, To my wife, still slightly shocked that they had dashed out and married yesterday. All it took was one glance at her ring to remind her of the beautiful truth.
"Relaxed yet?" Grissom asked as he quietly entered the room.
"You got me."
"I know. I have a marriage certificate to prove it." Leaning against the counter he drank in her smile. "Welcome home, Honey."
"Thank you for the surprise."
"You're welcome." Stuffing his hands in his robe pockets, he announced, "I'm sure you're anxious to plow through that copy of Entomology Today so I'll leave you to it."
"Get back here," She whimsically commanded while splashing the water with her palm. "Join me."
Happy to return but uncomfortable with her offer, he groveled. "I…uh…I'll stay out here and admire the view."
"We've lived in this house for how long? Come on…we have this gigantic tub and we've yet to share it." Splashing the water again, she goaded him. "We're married now, it's legal."
"I'm not really a bubble bath guy."
Sitting with half of her body strategically above the bubble line, she said in a sultry tone, "Do you have any idea how much action this tub probably saw when the mob boss owned this place. Nothing we do could make this tub blush."
His cheeks flushing, he blurted, "So aggressive."
"Is that what you think?" Slipping under the bubbles up to her neck, she chuckled. "It's like suddenly today I feel comfortable in my skin. I'm not hiding my personal life anymore and it's very freeing. I'm wearing a wedding ring and I have no doubts about our relationship or my place in your life. Today, I went to work and in spite of many people trying to bring me down, I persevered…no…I kicked ass!" Grinning from ear to ear she addressed his original comment. "It's not aggression…it's confidence. Not something I've always been guilty of having so maybe it is a little shocking."
Knowing her history and how important her statements were, his voice softened, "I like seeing you confident."
"I needed your help to get there."
"And now?"
Smirking, she changed the tone of the conversation. "Now I need you to get in this tub."
"Anything else?"
"You didn't want to go out on the dance floor but you liked that. Here in the bathroom you don't even have an audience."
He really couldn't pinpoint why it felt so awkward, it just did. "Sara I…"
"I'll sing for you," She taunted him. "A new verse to our song."
"It won't work," He started laughing.
"Don't you know that baths can be so lonely…when you're without the one you need…How much longer do I have to go…waiting for you to bathe with me!"
"That's good."
"Good enough to get you to join me?"
Then he realized just how he could use the little treat he had waiting in the fridge. "Did I mention I brought cheesecake home for you? Want me to get it?"
"Cheesecake?" Her ears perked. "Yeah, I'm starving."
Happy his bubble bath avoidance tactic worked, he waltzed out of the room, pausing only for a moment to shout back. "Oh, and there's a present for you on the bed….actually, it's in the bed under the covers because I didn't want you to see it."
Stepping out of the draining tub, she toweled off and then wrapped another towel around her body while thinking, he got out of sharing my bath this time, but I'll get him in there yet.
Letting her hair down out of its clip, she strolled into the bedroom. When she tossed back the covers, she saw their wedding photo in a beautiful silver frame. "Perfect." Admiring it, she set it on the nightstand and took a seat on the edge of the bed.
After several minutes lost in thought, she saw Grissom enter the room carrying a plate heaping with delicious dessert toppings. "Is the cheesecake buried under all that whipped cream and strawberry sauce?"
"Supposedly. I just slid it from the box to the plate, so I didn't actually see it." He took a seat next to her and handed her a fork, leaving a second fork on the plate.
"Let's pretend it's our wedding cake, so we only need one fork." She tossed the other one behind her. "Feed me."
Taking the fork in his hand, he scooped through the billowy cream and brought the pile to her mouth. Of course, since it was so gooey, a portion of the dessert missed Sara's mouth and slipped down her chin.
Laughing, she fell back against the sheets, wiping the mess and licking her fingertips. "Delicious. More please."
Once again Grissom filled his fork but this time, since she was lying down, he had to guide it over her towel-wrapped body towards her mouth. Of course, since it was so drippy and because he had a longer distance to cover, the majority of the decadent treat never made it to its destination. Instead it left a trail over the towel, onto her skin and down her chin.
"You missed again," She chuckled while waiting for him to help her out of the mess, but, much to her disappointment, he wasn't making a move. Taking it upon herself, Sara tugged open the towel and used the corner to wipe her chin.
Grissom locked his eyes on the whipped cream trail and suddenly recalled Catherine's words about the cheesecake. Just bring it home and see where it leads…literally.
"Honey? You have that look on your face. The one you get when you solve something that's been bugging you."
"How about a little more?" He replied while thrusting the fork into the lush dessert. Of course, his delivery efforts led to the same sloppy result but, instead of hitting the towel, which was no longer in the way, now the sweets scattered directly on Sara's silky skin. "Sorry," he announced without any conviction in his voice. Setting the plate on the bed, he swooped in for a taste off her lips before following the luscious path.
Once Sara's mouth was free, she gasped, startled by her husband's hungry kisses, roaming hands, and his heretofore unknown love of whipped cream and strawberry sauce. "Don't use all of it on me because, I plan on showing you some symmetry," she breathlessly warned when she saw him reach for another scoop. "Oh!" The chilly topping clashed with her heated body, sending a delightful shiver through her.
Sara, grinning wildly as Grissom's mouth consumed a strategically placed dollop of dessert, thought, now this is what I call Happy Hour!
The Stokes'
10:32 p.m. Central
In the living room of his childhood home, Nick sat in an arm chair listening to his two youngest sisters, Barbara and Karen, expound on his childhood embarrassments to Carrie, who was perched in between them, loving every minute of it. And it wasn't just stories they were sharing, they were entering photos into evidence.
"Check out Nicky in his Spiderman underwear! He really thought he was Spiderman too." Karen gleefully announced. "Barb, remember the time he took that ball of string and webbed his entire room?"
Barbara tossed her head back laughing. "Oh my god…I do remember that! He tried to jump from his bed into the tangled string and wound up spraining his wrist when he landed on the ground. He missed T-ball try-outs because of the injury and Dad was ticked."
Carrie glanced at her man who was pretending to read a copy of Newsweek magazine. "Is that why you became a CSI, Honey? So you could take care of bad guys like Spidey?" She joined in the laughter.
Looking up from the magazine, he casually said, "I'm sorry, I was reading. What did you say, Honey?"
Karen decided to sing her brother's childhood theme song. "Spiderman, Spiderman, friendly neighborhood Spiderman. Spins a web…in his bedroom. Catches thieves in his dreams. Look out! Here comes Nicky in his underwear!"
Carrie started choking from laughing so hard.
Nick groaned. "Great, Karen, you're killing my girlfriend with your voice."
Carrie grabbed her beer to wet her raw throat. "I can totally picture it all."
"Great," Nick grumbled. "That will help our sex life."
Carrie, finally recovered, growled, "I'll be your Mary Jane Watson anytime, Baby."
Just then his mom entered the room. "I didn't hear that."
Barbara jumped right in. "Like you didn't already know about Nicky's sex life." Looking at Carrie, she explained, "Mom caught Nicky in his bedroom with Traci Thomas, sophomore year of high school."
Covering his face with his hands, Nick wished he could disappear. "Not that story. Anything but that."
"It was his first time." Barbara explained.
Carrie questioned. "How many times was he caught?"
"No. You misunderstood." Barbara cracked up. "He got busted right in the middle of his de-virginization! I was away at college, but Karen was home."
"Oh!" Then she looked at Nick. "Oh!"
Slouching further in the chair, Nick said, "Someone shoot me now!"
Karen added her two cents. "It's funny now, but at the time, whoa...I've never seen Mom so ticked. I guarantee, no one has ever heard a 'not under my roof' speech like the one coming from the tough as nails PD who just caught her baby boy in the sack."
"Why didn't I bring my firearm with me?" Nick sighed. "I could be out of my misery by now."
"The terrified girl went running from the room with her clothes. To this day, I'm not even sure she put them on before she left the house!" Trying to get her words out through her laughter, she continued. "Mom yelled at Nick to get dressed and meet her in the hallway and said, 'and you better have an empty condom wrapper to show me when you step outside the door!'"
Finally seeing some humor in the moment, Nick said, "It was the first time I had to find evidence at the scene of a crime!"
While everyone was laughing, Barbara's pager went off. "I've been waiting for this call. Mrs. Henderson has been in labor for hours. It's finally time for me to yank that baby out." Standing up, she said, "I'll see you tomorrow Carrie, and I promise to tell you a few more juicy tidbits."
"Good night." Carrie stood up to hug her. "Thank you for welcoming me."
Barbara winked at Nick. "You can thank me later, bro."
"Don't hold your breath."
"Night!" Barbara hurried for the door.
Mrs. Stokes walked over to Karen. "Maybe we should all give Carrie and Nick a rest. They have to be tired from their trip."
Nick crossed the room. "Not to mention exhausted from the trip down memory lane!" Plus there was still a very important question he had to ask. "Aren't your husband and kids at home waiting for you, Karen?" Grabbing his sister's hand he yanked her to her feet. "How about moseying along?"
"Yeah, I gave you enough grief for one night." She hugged Carrie. "I'll see you tomorrow. That is, if you don't change your mind about staying now that you know about Nicky's humiliating past."
"Could happen." Carrie teased. "Good night."
Mrs. Stokes took her daughter's arm. "I'll walk you to your car."
Once Carrie and Nick were alone in the room, he said. "Want me to call the airport shuttle while you pack your bag?"
"Okay." The look on his face made her grin. "Are you kidding? After seeing how much your family loves you and how much you love your mom, I only love you more."
"In that case." He took her hand. "Would you like to stroll the grounds of the estate with me?"
"Love to."
"I'm uh…going to run up to our room and grab a sweater for you." Because I need to get the ring!
"It's July. I don't need a sweater."
But I need to get the ring! "Did I say sweater?" He forced a laugh. "I meant blanket…so we can sit and watch the stars. Maybe catch a shooting one and make a wish."
"Smooth Stokes."
"Can you go in the kitchen and grab us a couple of beers."
"Sure." She pecked his cheek with her lips. "I'll meet you on the back porch."
"Okay." He started down the hall. "Hey, Carrie. Do you really like my family?"
"Yes!"
His whole face spread into a smile. "Say it just like that when I ask you later, Baby."
Next Episode: Night and Day Part 3 of 3
Teaser: Who says yes and who says no?