Sara Meets The Stokes
Pairing: Nick and Sara
Sara meets the rest of Nick's family. There is a pizza party in her honor, vegetarian food included.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the CSI characters. I only own Nick's family.
Meeting the Stokes, Part Deux
Sara was wide awake, showered and dressed when she was on her way downstairs for breakfast. She slowly opened the door to Nick's room and saw that he was still asleep. He looked so peaceful when he sleeps, she thought. She blew him a kiss and quietly closed the door as not to disturb his slumber. She went downstairs and nearly jumped when she saw a man in his early 70s sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper. He looked up and saw her.
"You must be Sara Sidle," he said. "I am Nick's father. He has been telling us a lot about you. I think every member of the family knows you well, but meeting you in person is a lot different."
"It's nice meeting you, Mr. or Judge Stokes," Sara said.
"Oh, cut the formalities, young lady," Nick's father said. "When I am at home, I am not a judge. I am Cynthia's husband, father to Kathleen, Thomas, Jr., Wendy, Sabrina, Heather, Marissa and Nick and grandfather to 23 grandkids. So please, call me Thomas."
There was a brief silence in the kitchen. Cynthia arrived, kissed her husband and started making breakfast.
"Nick hasn't woken up yet," Sara said.
"Oh, I will see to it that he does," Cynthia said. "His sisters and their families are stopping by and they will be mad if he is still sleeping. They want him to introduce you to them. I am making his favorite omelet and the smell will be enough to wake him up."
Nick came downstairs still wearing his boxers and an old t-shirt. He loudly yawned to get everyone's attention.
"Look who has decided to join us," Thomas said.
"Hey dad, when did you get home?" Nick said slightly groggy.
"I got here about an hour ago," Thomas said. "When did you and Sara arrive here?"
"Yesterday afternoon," Sara said. "Nick, why don't you take a shower while you mom makes breakfast. Your sisters and their families should come in the afternoon."
"I'll go jump into the shower then," Nick said.
Before he went back upstairs, he pulled Sara into an embrace and gave her a big kiss. She gave him an even bigger on. Almost immediately, they released each other and Nick started to go up the stairs.
"Nick, I have saved some hot water for you," Sara said.
"Thank you," Nick smiled.
Sara went back to the kitchen and saw Nick's parents sitting and talking. She didn't get much of what was being said. However, she heard Thomas, Sr. say something about her and Nick looking cute together. She was blushing. When Thomas, Sr. and Cynthia saw Sara, they jumped.
"Am I interrupting something?" Sara asked.
"No, Sara, we were just talking about little things," Cynthia said. "I had better start fixing breakfast before we all starve. I am sure Nick will be back downstairs soon."
"Nick's birthday is in two days," Thomas said softly so only Sara and Cynthia could hear him. "We have a surprise party planned for him. Sara, you are going with him to the Dallas Botanical Garden and you both stay there for a few hours. Nick gave me your cell phone number before you guys left Vegas in case you get yourself lost in Dallas. I want you to leave in on the entire time. I will call you about fifteen minutes before so you can call for a ride home. Don't even think about letting Nick in on this or make him suspect anything about the party."
"You have nothing to worry about, Thomas," Sara said. "I will give Nick a good time and we'll get some good exercise at the garden. He won't suspect a thing. In fact, I will tell himthat you're Gil Grissom calling to check in on us."
"I like that idea," Thomas said with a smile.
Cynthia got up and started to make breakfast. Nick came downstairs with his hair slightly damp, dressed up and smelling like his aftershave. He approached Sara and embraced her.
"Did you miss me?" Nick asked.
"Like you wouldn't believe," Sara said taking a whiff of Nick's aftershave. "Come on, Cowboy, you must be hungry. Your mom is making breakfast!"
"Sara, you're hungry, too," Nick said. "Don't worry, my mom knows you are a vegetarian and will accommodate you. I sent her a cookbook to give her some ideas."
"Thank you," Sara said.
Before Nick could respond, Cynthia called them to say that breakfast was almost ready. They went to the dining room, took their seats and were soon joined by Thomas. Cynthia brought their breakfast out. Thomas had cold cereal with milk, Cynthia had oatmeal with maple syrup and cinnamon, Sara had almond flavored French toast and Nick had an omelet with turkey, olives and mushroom. There was a pitcher of juice, a sugar bowl, a small pitcher of milk, a teapot and a coffeepot in the middle of the table.
The conversations ranged from Sara's upbringing in Tamales Bay, California to where she went to college to what has been going on in Dallas since Nick last visited. Both Thomas and Cynthia were in awe of their youngest son dating a Harvard girl. They were both glad that Nick finally found a girl he was totally smitten with. For once they didn't have to hear their daughters annoy him about the latest pretty young thing that he will love. Sometimes they wish that Sara should have come into Nick's life a lot sooner, but they're both happy she is here with him.
"Sara, do you want to check out the garden in the backyard?" Nick asked after breakfast was finished. "It is small, but it is beautiful. I plan to take you to the Dallas Botanical Garden while we are here. You will have a nice stroll and check out the rest of Stokes Manor."
"I would love to," Sara said.
"Nicholas Anthony Stokes, you better treat her right!" Thomas yelled. "I don't want Sara to tell us that you were less than gentlemanly towards her."
"Thomas, I don't think you have anything to worry about," Sara said. "He treats me with respect and spoils me. The two of you raised a very good son."
Nick and Sara left the house through the sliding door leading to the backyard. Nick first showed Sara the indoor/outdoor swimming pool. He reminisced about the pool parties that took place while he was growing up. Sometimes he would piss off his sisters by jumping cannonball style into the pool splashing them. He promised Sara that they would take a dip in the pool, but he hoped that his nephews wouldn't cannonball Sara. He finally led her to the garden.
"This tree was planted by Grandpa Stokes in July 1956 for my parents' first anniversary," Nick said. "I think he gave them the tree as a gift to symbolize growth and fertility. When they raised a family, the tree took a whole new meaning. It was either a toy or an ideal make out place. I remember climbing this tree a lot when I was a kid. When I was 11, I was sitting on one of the strongest branches looking at the Dallas night sky. My mom called me to come into the house because it was almost bedtime. I was about to get down to the ground until I lost my balance and fell off the tree. I broke my leg and stayed in the hospital overnight. Afterwards, I wasn't allowed to climb the tree at night. I outgrew tree climbing a year after my accident."
"I am so sorry, Nick," Sara said.
"Now, I just admire the tree and wonder what did it witness in its 47 years of being at Stokes Manor," Nick observed. "I don't know how to describe it, but it has."
"Nick, stop being a philosopher and show me the little garden," Sara said.
"I was going to bring you there," Nick said with a smile.
They walked through the garden. The sweet smell of the flowers permeated Nick and Sara's noses. He showed her the various flowers and why his mother chose to plant them in the garden. Nick took her to the other side where there were some culinary herbs.
"Sara, this is rosemary," Nick said pointing to a shrub. "Rub your fingers against the leaves and smell it."
"Wow, it smells wonderful," Sara said.
"This is one of my mom's hobbies," Nick said. "It relaxes her after a hard day at work and dealing with seven kids. I used to help her with the garden when I was a teenager. We never had to buy herbs for cooking because they were there in the garden. Go right ahead and rub your fingers between the leaves and smell them. Our dinners had this fresh taste of herbs because of the garden."
Sara was like a kid in a candy store walking, rubbing her fingers on one leaf of each plant and smelling it. It brought her back to a high school class trip to London when they went to Kew Gardens and she had fun there. Some of the aromatic herbs in the Stokes Manor garden reminded her of the ones in London. She was minding her business when she noticed Nick probably went back into the house. There were seven people standing a few feet away from the front door. There was a man and a woman in there mid to late 40s and five younger people, three girls and two boys, in their teens and very early twenties. The woman looked more like Cynthia.
"You must be Sara," the woman said almost scaring Sara to death. "We are sorry. We didn't mean to scare you. I am Kathleen Stokes-McMullen, Nick's oldest sister. This is my husband Peter, Sr.; my daughters Sierra, Zoë, and Michelle and my sons Peter, Jr. and Andrew. My baby brother has told us a lot about you and I am finally meeting you! I can assure you that everything he said was good and not bad."
"I am happy to finally meet you, too," Sara said as she shook their hands. "Where's Nick?"
"He is with my other sisters and one of them brought along her family," Kathleen said. "We were here to look at the tree and the garden."
"I'll go inside and meet everyone else," Sara said.
When she got inside she was met with a blonde haired blue eyed woman in her late thirties. The woman was staring at her as if she was from outer space.
"Hi, I am Sabrina Stokes-O'Brien," the woman said. "You must be Sara Sidle. Whenever Nick calls or visits, not a conversation is complete with him talking about you. You are everything Nick said you are."
"Where is your family?" Sara said.
"My husband and three sons decided to have a boys' day out," Sabrina said. "My sisters Wendy and Heather came by themselves. My other sisters Kathleen and Marissa came with their families. Don't you worry, you will get to meet more of the Stokes grandkids while you are here."
"Have you met everyone?" Nick snuck and whispered into Sara's ear.
"Nick, you know better than to be a sneak," Sabrina protested. "You could have given your poor girlfriend a heart attack."
"Sorry," Nick said quietly.
Sabrina walked away, but not before mouthing to Nick 'Sara's a keeper and you better marry her, Nicholas.'.
Nick took Sara over to where a few other people were sitting and talking. They all looked at Nick and the strange woman with him.
"Sara, this is my sister Wendy Stokes-Goldberg," Nick said. "Her husband is Jewish on his father's side, but an Irish Catholic on his mother's side. He is my dad's favorite son-in-law. They have four kids, three girls and one boy. This is my other sister Heather Stokes-Maffeo. She and her husband have five children, all girls. Finally, this is the sister I am closest in age with Marissa Stokes-Grimaldi. He husband and three kids, two boys and a girl, are somewhere in this house."
"Uncle Nicky, where is Auntie Sara?" a little boy asked running.
"Josh, come here," Nick said. "Where are Chelsea and Marcus?"
"They are with daddy," Josh said looking at Nick and then Sara. "Is this my Aunt Sara?"
"Josh, this is my girlfriend Sara," Nick said.
"Joshua David Grimaldi, Jr., Sara isn't your aunt yet," Marissa said. "Your uncle is dating Sara. She won't become your aunt until she and Nick are married."
"Marissa, it's okay," Sara said. "One of our colleagues has a daughter that calls me Aunt Sara. Nick is like an uncle to her."
"I would like to say that we are happy to finally meet you in person, Sara," Wendy said. "Ever since Nick told us about the day he saw you while tossing those dummies, we have been more intrigued about you. We told him many times to bring you with him on his next visit to Dallas. He came up with these bullshit excuses, but now he finally listened."
"Wendy, those weren't excuses," Nick said. "I couldn't get Sara the workaholic out of the lab and field. My boss made her take a vacation and I decided to take her with me to Dallas to meet everyone and give her a taste of Texas."
"Sara, Nick tells me you are from the San Francisco area," Heather said. "Where in the area you are from?"
"I came from Tamales Bay," Sara said. "It is an hour and a half away from San Francisco."
"My college roommate was from Oakland," Heather said. "She was awesome. I never thought I would meet anyone from California. Now my brother is dating a Californian girl."
An hour later, there was a pizza lunch. When Thomas called in the order, he made sure to order a vegetarian pie. It was not only for Sara, but Zoë and Michelle didn't like pepperoni and preferred vegetable toppings than meat. They spent plenty of time getting to know Sara more. Heather and Wendy were asking Nick why it took him so long ask Sara out on a date. He gave them the same response he did to his parents. There were jokes and more conversations about colleges, high schools and relationships.
Another two hours have past and it was just Nick, Sara, Thomas and Cynthia in the house. There wasn't much to clean up since Nick's sisters and older nieces and nephews helped. They were just relaxing, exhausted from the day. Thomas thought of taking them to a Japanese restaurant with the hibachi tables. He got up and made reservations for four at 8:00.
"Everybody loves you, Sara," Nick whispered. "I especially love you!"
"I love you, too, Nicky," Sara whispered back. "I also love your family."
TBC
