Sara Meets The Stokes

Pairing: Nick and Sara

Thomas and Cynthia take Nick and Sara out to a Japanese restaurant the night before they return to Vegas.

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

Dinner with Thomas and Cynthia

"I can't wait for the entertainment to come," Nick said with boyish excitement after swallowing some of his salad.

"Nick, you have been like this ever since you were three," Thomas smirked. "The chef should arrive in a few moments. They just turned on the heat of the hibachi. Sara, does he behave like this when you go to a Japanese restaurant in Vegas?"

"Yes, he does," Sara chuckled. "I tell him 'down boy'. I also look forward to the amusement the chef has in store for the guests."

"I can't believe these two young adults in their early thirties can act like kids in a candy store," Cynthia laughed.

The chef arrived pushing a cart carrying food ready to be part of the entertainment and cooked. There were trays of filet mignon, chicken, shrimp, vegetables, enough cooked rice for eight people and some sauces.

"Mommy, is he going to cook our dinner at our table?" a little girl sitting with Sara and the Stokes asked.

"Yes, sweetheart, he will," the woman said. "You see that slab of metal in the middle of the table."

"Uh-huh!" she nodded.

"That's where that man wearing the chef's uniform is going cook our dinner," the woman explained.

"Who ordered the filet mignon?" the chef asked.

"I did," Thomas, Nick and the man sitting with them replied at the same time.

"How would you like yours done?" he asked.

"I'll have mine medium rare," Thomas said.

"I'd like mine medium well," Nick smiled.

"Medium well," the man said.

"Now, who gets chicken?" the chef inquired.

"I do," Cynthia said.

"My son and daughter ordered chicken also," the woman said.

"What about the shrimp?" he asked.

"That's what I ordered," the same woman said.

"Who ordered the vegetarian dinner?" the chef asked.

"I did!" Sara smiled.

"Hey you talk funny, lady," the little boy commented at the only non-Texan sitting at the table.

"My girlfriend isn't from around here," Nick gently intervened. "She is originally from the San Francisco area in California. We both live and work in Las Vegas."

"She still talks funny," the little girl said.

"Susie, that isn't nice," the woman said. "Timmy, you and your sister should apologize to the young woman."

"I don't mind," Sara said. "Sometimes the kids in my neighborhood make fun of my boyfriend's drawl. Don't worry about it!"

"Sara, pay attention to the chef," Nick whispered.

All eyes were focused on the chef preparing their dinner. He started the entertainment by stacking some onion slices to resemble a volcano. He put a small amount of vegetable oil on it and lit it. There was a small flame on top of the onion volcano. Everyone at the table applauded. The chef immediately put out the flame and spread the onion slices around. He started making the base for the fried rice of eggs, minced carrots, onion and scallions. He then placed enough cooked rice for eight people on top of the almost cooked egg mixture and continued to make the concoction adding soy sauce, rice wine, dark sesame oil, sesame seeds and some salt and pepper. When he finished, he divided up by eight and placed each serving in a bowl and quickly flipped each bowl before giving it to a guest. Amazingly, none of the rice fell out of the bowls. There was more applause and the chef cleared the area for something else.

"Nick, you should pour a little bit of the ginger sauce on the rice and mix it a little," Sara said. "It is awesome."

"I like it better with the mustard sauce," Nick said. "However, I'll give your way a try if you try it my way."

"Fair enough!" Sara winked.

After they tried the other person's way of enjoying the fried rice, they were pleasantly surprised of what they missed out. Nick though the ginger sauce was too sweetly pungent for the rice and Sara assumed that mustard would be too hot. They each made a mental note to eat their rice that way in the future.

Sara watched the chef make her entrée first since some vegetarians take offense to having their food cooked with the meat. The entrée was made with tofu, onions, zucchini, mushrooms, shiitakes, carrots, broccoli, minced garlic, soy sauce, dark sesame oil, rice wine, salt, pepper and sesame seeds. He placed it on Sara's plate once he finished cooking it. Sara immediately positioned her chopsticks and started to take a small amount of her entrée. Nick gave her a sad look.

"Sara, don't you think you should wait until he gives us the vegetable side dish," Nick said. "Don't forget that he has to make our entrées."

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy, Stokes?" Sara raised her eyebrow. "If you wanted to eat with me, you should have ordered the vegetarian dinner like I did."

Nick chuckled and pulled Sara into an embrace and kissed her. He immediately was on the receiving end of a glare from his father.

"Nick, there are children sitting at our table," Thomas said. "I know you and Sara love each other, but this isn't the time or place for your public display of affection."

Sara smiled as Nick gently released her from his embrace. They focused their attention on the rest of the culinary entertainment. The chef made a vegetable medley of sprouts, onions, zucchini and mushrooms with soy sauce and minced garlic for everyone – including Sara. He then made the chicken with onions, a splash of ginger sauce and sesame seeds. He divided them into three portions and put them on Cynthia, Susie and Timmy's plates. He proceeded with shrimp that was cooked with lemon juice, rice wine and a splash of soy sauce. He served in on Susie and Timmy's mother's plate. Finally, he made the filet mignon for the three men according to their liking with the same preparations as with the other foods. When that was finished, he cleaned up the hibachi by pouring a glass of water and wiping it down with a thick cloth. After he finished, he took a bow, received applause from the guests and took the cart back to the kitchen.

"How's the tofu dish?" Nick asked.

"Delicious!" Sara smiled. "Would you like to have a little piece?"

"Sure, I would," Nick said. "I know I can't give you a piece of my filet mignon. However, I am going to order the chocolate paradise cake as my dessert. I know you'll order the green tea ice cream. I'll give you a bite of the cake. Do we have a deal?"

"You get a little bit of my dinner," Sara beamed. "I get a bite of your dessert. That is a good deal."

Nick smiled and continued eating his dinner. Sara gave him a piece of her tofu and threw in a thin slice of shiitake. He ate it and gave her a look that said 'thank you'.

"Sara, you are coming with Nick to Dallas for Christmas," Cynthia said knowing tomorrow Nick and Sara would be flying back to Vegas. "We look forward to having you at our Holiday celebration."

"I'll make sure she fills out the paperwork for the vacation," Nick beamed.

"You'd better," Thomas smiled.

When the main course was finished, the waitress came by and took away the plates, forks, chopsticks and dirty napkins. She left carrying the stuff to the kitchen. She returned a little while later with eight dessert menus. She disappeared again to allow her guests to peruse through their menus and make a decision. Nick and Sara knew exactly what they wanted and only looked at the menu as a ruse. When their waitress finally materialized, she took their dessert order. Thomas ordered a dish of chocolate ice cream. Cynthia had a sweetened red bean paste. As predicted, Nick ordered the chocolate paradise cake and Sara ordered green tea ice cream. The family that shared a table with Sara and the Stokes all selected vanilla ice cream.

A few moments later, the waitress arrived with their desserts. She also had six small glasses of complementary plum wine for the adults. For the two kids, she had lollipops resembling sushi. All their desserts were beautifully presented with a spring of mint, especially Nick's cake that had whipped cream. They started to eat the desserts. The two kids had a little contest to see who could eat their ice cream the quickest. Nick quietly laughed at them. It reminded him of when he and Marissa were those kids' ages and the silly things they did when the family went out for dinner. He looked at Sara and wondered how she and her brother interacted as children. He felt someone poking him in the arm and he turned around to investigate who was responsible.

"I almost forgot all about it, Sara," he said. "I am sorry!"

"You are so lucky that you only took one bite out of the yummy looking cake, Nicky" Sara smirked.

"I promised you a bite of this treat," Nick said as he took his fork, cut a small piece, dipped it in some of the chocolate sauce and whipped and fed it to Sara.

"This is excellent!" Sara said after she slowly savored it. "It's just like the chocolate mousse cakes I have had in the past. If I come back here another time, I will have this cake."

"I am sure you will have it," Cynthia chirped after seeing the interaction between her son and his girlfriend.

The dessert and plum wine course continued with conversations, jokes and laughter. After everyone finished, the waitress returned to collect the bowls, plates, silverware and the tiny glasses. She briefly disappeared, but reappeared with two checks, one for each party. Cynthia looked at the check and took out her credit card and placed it in the holder.

"Cynthia, let me pay," Thomas declared after he tried to take his wife's card from the holder.

"Thomas, don't be a nuisance," Cynthia hissed. "I want to pay this time. Let me, please!"

He relented knowing that she had a way of winning arguments. Both Nick and Sara tried to repress any laughter that was trying to escape their system. They exchanged looks wondering if they were going to be like his parents. After that all attempts to control themselves proved to be futile. They laughed, his parents stared at them and shook their heads.

The waitress returned to collect the two holders, each one holding a credit card. She went to the cashier's area and processed them. She went back to her table to give someone from each party the appropriate holder. Cynthia put her credit card back into her wallet, she looked at the transaction slip to figure out the tip amount, entered a generous amount, figured out the total and signed it. She took her copy and left the restaurant's copy inside the holder.

"I apologize for my kids, once again," the woman said as she saw the Stokes party leave.

"Like I said before," Sara smiled. "It's not such a big deal."

"Have a safe trip back to Las Vegas," she said.

"Thanks," Nick beamed.

An hour later, they were at Stokes Manor. Thomas and Cynthia went upstairs to their bedroom while Nick and Sara camped out at the living room for an hour or two. Nick turned on the television with the remote control. He and Sara were embracing each other and kissing passionately. They really weren't paying much attention to what was being shown on TV. A moment later, they gingerly released each other from their embrace.

"Did you have fun tonight?" Nick asked.

"I had a great time at the restaurant," she smirked. "Did you?"

"I had fun and the entertainment was awesome," Nick smiled. "Hey, do you want to start packing now?"

"No, our flight leaves at 3:15 in the afternoon," Sara sighed. "We could start packing in the morning. I doubt we have much to pack."

"Okay, the morning it is," Nick said. "I love you, Sara."

"I love you, too, Nick," Sara cooed.

They watched some Discovery Channel until they became a little sleepy. Nick turned off the television. They went upstairs to their bedrooms and fell asleep once their bodies hit the beds.

TBC