Sara Meets The Stokes

Pairing: Nick and Sara

Nick and Sara visit the Dallas Museum of Art.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the CSI characters. I only own Nick's family.

A Day with the Arts

Nick and Sara were walking down a corridor of the Dallas Museum of Art. They had just recently left the hall that housed the ancient Egyptian artworks. They got themselves out of the way of fellow museum goers and paused to figure out where to go next.

"Sara, do you want to see Asian art or the contemporary art next?" Nick asked.

"Can we see Asian art first?" Sara said. "Then we can check out the contemporary collection."

"We sure can do that," Nick smiled. "After we check out those two exhibits, we are going to have lunch at the café. I assure you that they have something for everyone, including a certain vegetarian girlfriend of this native Texan."

Sara chuckled at Nick's reference to her being a vegetarian girlfriend of a native Texan.

"Nick, you never cease to amaze me," Sara said.

"And you never cease to amaze me either, Sara," Nick chuckled. "I love you anyway!"

"I love you, too," Sara said.

They finally made their way to the exhibition hall where the Asian art collection was displayed. They spent more time looking at each artwork and less time reading the description of it. Whenever they entered a chamber of the exhibit hall, they skimmed through the main description of the artist/region/time period that part of the collection was from. Once they left that exhibition hall, they found their way to the one the contemporary artworks were housed. Nick and Sara spent less time in that exhibit, but they were as thorough admiring the works as they did with the previous two. The paintings by Jackson Pollock held some fascination for the young couple. Somehow when they look at that artist's work, they thought about Catherine. Neither Sara nor Nick could figure out why they thought of their friend and colleague in that moment, but it dawned on them that blood spatter analysis was her specialty.

Fifteen minutes later, they were sitting across from each other at the museum's café. Nick had a grilled chicken sandwich that was served with locally made potato chips and pickle. Sara had the wild mushroom ravioli with pesto sauce. They split a large baby green salad and a liter of mineral water.

"I wonder how Catherine would react if we told about associating her expertise with Jackson Pollock's paintings," Nick said.

"She'd probably kick our asses for not only thinking about it," Sara said. "She would give our asses another kick for telling her."

Nick chuckled, but that faded into seriousness. Sara caught it quickly.

"Nick, is there something wrong?" Sara asked. "You can tell me!"

"Last night, while you were asleep," Nick said. "My siblings decided to confront me about my relationship with you at one of the guesthouses."

Sara was stunned and speechless.

"Why did they do something that?" Sara asked after she regained her composure.

"They were just curious about why we waited nearly three years before we started dating," Nick said.

"What did you tell them?" Sara asked nearly impatient.

"I told them about the flirting, Hank, the lab explosion and Grissom's rejection," Nick said. "Tom chided me for not pursuing you more aggressively. He told me that I should've prevented you from dating that jackass."

"Nick, as much as I regret being with Hank," Sara said bluntly. "I don't think we could do anything now to change what happened. I think he showed me that there are assholes in this world. However, you showed me that nice guys still exist."

Nick blushed and smiled.

"Sara, there was something else," Nick said. "They told me that they would like to see you join the family. It looks like they want us to get married as soon as possible."

"Are they nuts?" Sara asked.

"One of my sisters reassured me that we don't have to do it right away," Nick said. "My siblings told me that we could take our relationship a step further at our own pace."

Sara breathed a sigh of relief.

"Nick, I have you and I'm very happy," Sara said touching his hand.

"I'm very happy that I have you, too, Sara," Nick smiled.

"Do you want to split a tiramisu?" Sara asked with very sweet smile.

"I thought you'd never asked," Nick grinned.

As they took small bites of the tiramisu, they stared at each other and smiled.

"Sara, if and when I do ask you to marry me," Nick said. "I want it to be both special and a surprise. You know something that you least expect."

"I wouldn't appreciate anything rushed," she replied.

"Of course, you wouldn't," Nick said. "You deserved the very best."

"You're spoiling me rotten, Stokes," Sara giggled.

"You deserve to be spoiled by me," Nick winked.

Sara tried to think about what she wanted to say next.

"What do you want to see after we leave the café?" she asked.

"I was thinking to check out the African and Ancient American collections," Nick said. "Then we call it a day. Sabrina has invited us to have dinner at her house. My parents will also be there. However, we are going to rest for about an hour or two at Stokes Manor."

After Sara paid for their meal, they were on their way to see the African collection first. They did the same thing as they did with the previous exhibits they visited, but they had mini discussions about each work they saw. They also managed to steal a moment every time they entered a new chamber. A few people stared at them, but they thought it was cute to see a young couple so in love.

When they were at the Ancient American exhibit, they had to stop sneaking kisses since a guard caught them. Nick and Sara were lucky the guy gave them a warning and didn't ask them to leave. However, they managed an occasional peck on the cheek by whispering to each their commentaries about the works of art. Nick softly chuckled over how they managed pay attention to the art.

After Nick and Sara left the museum, they didn't want to go back to Stokes Manor right away. Instead they took a stroll around the area of the museum.

"Sara, would you like to go to Starbucks?" Nick asked with an innocently looking smile on his face.

"Sure, but it's my treat," Sara said.

"No, I offered and it will be my treat," Nick said.

Sara gave him a look of hurt and slight anger.

"You paid for lunch," Nick smiled. "Let me pay for coffee! Besides, I have at least 50 dollars more left on my Starbucks card than you do on yours."

She relented, there was absolutely no way she was going to win that argument.

"Okay, Cowboy, it's your card," Sara said with a wink.

Twenty minutes later, they were sitting at a table in the nearest Starbucks to the museum. Nick had a grande cappuccino with vanilla and Sara had a grande latte with hazelnut. They shared one large chocolate biscotti that was dipped in even more chocolate. They lingered with their drinks, conversation about their visit to the art museum and laughter. For an hour, they didn't have to worry about returning to Stokes Manor.

TBC