Chapter 18: Proposals
Three weeks after Warrick found out he was going to have a baby, and after that fact had been confirmed for me, we went out to a nice restaurant, where I asked him to marry me. He said yes, it wasn't really a surprise, but, he said yes. We started talking about our different families' traditions, on the way home, within a week, we had a general outline for the week long wedding that was traditional in my family. We set the date for four months later, even at seven months, Warrick would still be able to have fun, but three months was to soon, and the eighth month was to late. We spent most days trying to get Invitations out, as soon as possible, so we could get them back. The first thing I did was write letters to Ukiah and Atticus, so that I could get in direct contact with the Dog Warriors. Warrick tried to get in contact with a friend or two that he wanted there, and we invited Grissom, Greg, Sara, Catherine, I even mentioned to Catherine that it might be a good idea to invite Ecklie to one of the milder days, since he'd be hearing about the wedding somewhere.
"Not the smartest Idea, but whatever you want, what does this week long thing consist of?"
"The first day is the actual ceremony, and a regular wedding style reception, now I'm going to suggest, if Lindsey is coming, you might want her to go home about midnight, because the tone changes considerably after that, the younger families tend to leave, because what happens about two or three is not appropriate for children, though I know some times where children were not restricted, I won't let anyone under 21 stay."
"What is it?" Catherine asked.
"It's a ritual, involving the new couple, Warrick and I moved it around, later into the night, but earlier in the week, so that his family wouldn't be there, and it's not so far ...yeah, we changed a few things from tradition, though there is one thing I need you to help me with."
"What's that?" Catherine asked.
"For part of the reception, we bring in the most important person in each of our closest friend's lives, but, that will be very difficult, as, we don't even know most of the things we need to know, it's pretty simple, for Grissom, we're going to bring his mom in, but Greg, Sara and you, we have no clue about, I know Greg was never really close to his mom, Sara's dad is dead and she lived in foster homes since then, and I have no clue who the most important person in your life is."
"Well, if you're going for parents, Sam Braun is my father, by blood,"
"But is he really that important," I asked.
"I guess not, but who else would you bring for me?"
"Was there a father figure you had while growing up, maybe?"
"Sam was around, a little bit, but my mom never really had anyone around that would really fit for this," Catherine said.
"Anyone that you wish you hadn't lost touch with?" I asked, really scraping, "it doesn't even have to be a guy, it's just preferable for most women."
Warrick's POV
I was five and a half months pregnant, and we went to see Hunter at his office, after hours, Hunter's receptionist was still there, doing some sort of Work, "Warrick, Nick, come on back, I've just got a bit more paperwork, and I'll be with you," Hunter said, poking his head out of the office when we walked in.
I followed Nick, and sat down on the examining table, "Marcella, you can leave now, and finish up in the morning," Hunter said, getting up, and walking out of the office. Once the receptionist was packing up, Hunter shut his office door, "Warrick, I see you're ready to get this over with," Hunter said.
"I'm five months, I haven't figured out how to tell my boss about it yet,"
"And you are showing a fair amount, how do you plan to keep hiding it?" Hunter asked.
"I don't, I mean to tell Catherine, as soon as I find a way that won't scare her to bad," I said.
"I've got a suggestion, have her over for dinner, maybe Saturday, when I'm over anyway, that way, if she needs confirmation, I am your doctor after all."
"Right, that'll work," I said.
"Alright, now, lay back, and we'll get started," Hunter said, picking up the wand, "You did as I asked, I assume?"
"I'm currently carrying two babies and eight glasses of water," I said.
"Right," Hunter said, and turned the machine on. Nick stood just behind him, staring at the screen, I knew that they wouldn't let me see until they had a chance to see, I was nervous, what if I did something wrong, what if there was something wrong with one of the babies?
I watched Nick's face, as Hunter looked intently at the screen, Nick moved his head closer, "Is that what I think it is?" He asked Hunter.
"I believe, Warrick, that you are going to have identical twins," Hunter said, in a perfectly calm voice.
"You, you can tell that?" I asked.
Hunter looked at Nick, who looked back, "Is something wrong?" I asked.
"Nothing wrong, just something that isn't seen very often, I've only heard of one case of it," Hunter said.
"What's that?" I asked.
"Hunter and I were the only case I heard of," Nick said.
"We never fought as kids, some say it's because, in the womb, we shared an umbilical chord," Hunter said.
"And we did, we each had about this much of our own chord, the rest merged into one," Nick held his hands not far apart, about the length of a baby.
"Because of that, I was born within seconds of Nicky," Hunter said.
"So you two were almost siamese twins?"
"Another foot or so, and we would have been, yeah," Hunter said.
"Are they connected, to each other, besides the chord?" I asked.
Hunter looked at the screen closer, moving the wand around, "No, they are keeping their distance, they are not touching very much at all."
After Hunter was finished checking on the babies, he turned the screen to face to me, I could see faint outlines, and Hunter showed me the distinct lines, and pointed out the umbilical chords, and where they merged. "It's nothing to worry about, Warrick," Hunter said to me.
The next day, Nick and I got ready to go to work, Nick was carrying Nilde around the house, as he made lunch, it was an interesting sight, but even more so was the picture that Tara snapped, Nick had come up to me, and Tara snapped the digital picture of Nick holding Nilde, and he had his left hand on my stomach.
That night at work, we were in the hallway, when we first ran into Catherine, "Hey Cath," Nick said.
"Hi, Nick, Warrick," She said, "Here is your new assignment,"
"Thanks Cath, I was hoping, could we talk to you?" I asked.
"Sure, what is it?" she replied with her own question.
"Not here, I'm worried about people, overhearing, it's fairly personal matter, not something that I want to get around, quite yet," I said.
"No problem, after shift alright, we can go out for supper."
"Tomorrow, would be better, before shift, Nick's making a nice lunch," I said, it would be mostly Nick working anyway.
"Sure, tomorrow, your place, what time?"
"Noon, and if you guys want, since it's a Saturday, bring Linds, Tara won't mind having some company to talk to while we talk."
"Noon tomorrow, alright," Catherine smiled, offering Nick's cooking had probably sealed the deal for her.
Nick took the sheet, and nodded, we headed out, and spent the entire shift, at the crime scene, at Midnight, when we were only about half done collecting the multitudes of evidence, Nick called out for pizza, it was a big house, with evidence all over, we would have to eat in the truck, but it was needed, I needed the food for the twins, and Nick needed the food just to stay on his feet, he never admitted it, but I noticed that after more than a few hours without something to eat, Nick would begin to get unsteady on his feet. I don't know what it was about Nick that drained the energy of even a substantial meal off of him very quickly, and he never gained fat or anything like that from it.
It was nearly eight when we got back to the lab, Grissom was sitting in his office when we walked by, towards evidence lockup, we each had a trolley with the boxes loaded high on them.
"Nick, Warrick, after you've dropped that off, would you come to my office?" he asked.
Nick nodded, and we continued on our way, we split up, to deliver samples to be tested in the different parts of the lab, we met just outside Grissom's office.
"What can we do for you?" I asked, as we stepped in.
"Did you two just spend 16 hours processing a crime scene?"
"Almost, we have to go back and finish this afternoon, after we've slept," Nick said.
"Right, Um, would you shut the door, I don't want to be overheard," Grissom said.
Nick turned around and shut the door, Grissom waited a moment before speaking, "I assume, WArrick, that Nick's told you of the clans?"
"He and I have spoken in depth of our childhoods," I said.
"Good, then barring that information confusing you, may I speak freely?"
"Of course, what is it?" Nick asked.
"I know of two people, like yourself, Nick who need training in specific areas, they have some of the talents you described in your description of the clans to me, would you be able to help them?"
"If that is what they so wish," Nick told Grissom.
"Great, one second, and I'll get one of them in here," Grissom said.
"Whoa, wait a second," I turned to Nick, "Is this wise, you don't know who it is, they could pose a possible threat."
"Which I will be able to sense immediately, and counter," Nick said, "While Nilde and Encaitare are better with others emotions than I am, I'm still able to sense intent, if the person holds malice in them, I will know."
I nodded, and Grissom picked up the phone, but before he could dial, there was a knock on the door, "Come in," Grissom put the phone down.
"Griss," it was Greg, he saw us, and froze.
"It's alright Greg, come in, and shut the door behind you," Grissom said.
"What's going on?" Greg asked.
"Remember how I told you I had a friend who could possibly help you with your problem?" Grissom responded.
"Let's not talk about this in front of Nick and Warrick, Please," Greg practically begged.
"Nick is the friend I told you about, he is," Grissom paused.
"I'm involved in an organization that helps people with talents that could possibly be considered," Nick paused, thinking, "Unnatural."
"While all information about the organization, and thus the help it gives tends to be kept within the group, and their families, Greg, sometimes members find it necessary to tell someone else about it, and occasionally, if the person who is told knows someone who has these talents who was not raised among the organization, they will try to help."
"Well?" Greg asked.
"I know nothing of your situation, though I can tell you, the talent you possess, whatever it is, is not unnatural, I can normally tell when someone has talent, and this is rather surprising, I tested each of you the first time I met you, and while most of the lab came out normal, the rest came out as having latent powers, talents," Nick corrected himself, "when I tried to check on you, you appeared to be a member of a clan, that is why I never approached you," I said.
"How can he appear to be a member of a clan?" Grissom asked, "I thought it wasn't possible to tell?"
"Not normally, no, but certain talents do not allow for the person to shift loyalties easily, it is better to give a warning, than start a clan war, that may very well have been preventable, I was staying away from speaking to Greg of his talents, as there is part of him, that suggests, rather strongly that he is already part of a clan."
"I am not part of any clan, why do you say that I am?"
"Do you know what the clans are?" I asked.
"They are groups of people, with talents, like mine, they live, work, and have families together."
"Yes, and most people are either not allowed to leave, or don't want to leave, I however did, I thought you were the same way, did you leave a clan, unofficially?" Nick asked.
"My father tried to get me to join a clan, when he discovered my abilities, but I refused, the clan leader was not happy at that," Greg said, "That is the reason I left home."
"Raise your shirt, Greg, I need to see your back," Nick said, "there is one time, when someone is not marked on the hip, and I would like to see if your case is such."
Greg lifted his shirt, showing Nick his entire back, there was nothing on it, "I do have a birthmark on my Hip," Greg said.
"A birth mark?" Nick asked, and Greg automatically showed him.
On Greg's hip, was a mark I had come to know very well, it was superimposed over the scarred tattoo on Nick's hip, it had appeared fairly recently, but I recognized it.
"You've had that since birth?" Nick asked.
"Yeah, why?"
Nick looked at me, "That's not what I expected."
"What does it mean?" Greg asked.
"The clan that mark represents has only been around for ten years, Greg," Nick told him.
"But, how is that possible?" Greg asked.
"I don't know, It'll take me a few days to research occurrences like this, and talk to a couple people, by next week, I can have two things done, I'll find out what this means, and I'll get you in contact with someone with your same abilities, from another clan, as you are the first one with that clan mark, since you've had it since birth, I'd say you have to be an oracle, and probably a rather powerful one at that."
"I don't want to be part of a clan," Greg said.
"You aren't in order to be a member of a clan, you must swear loyalty to the leader of the clan, and you have not, you just have the mark, preventing any other clan from claiming you as one of theirs." Nick said.
"I have a question for you, Greg, if you have had your abilities for a long time, why are you just seeking help now?" I asked.
"Since I can remember I have had these abilities, it wasn't until recently, however, they have become more powerful, they are starting to make it impossible to sleep."
"Was there a spike like this when you reached puberty?" Nick asked.
"No, why?" Greg asked.
"That's when an Oracle usually comes into their full power, this is how I had figured your father came to find out, as it is very disturbing for both the Oracle, and the people in the immediate area, when they get the visions, until they teach themselves how to control it,"
"I have to teach myself?" Greg asked.
"You could try ad few things that worked to keep you from getting them at inopportune times as a child, but I'm not even sure how that works, I was blessed by not having that ability on top of my others, males in my family tend to be weak, while my father and sisters are strong, we are the only ones, my brother, and all the other males on my father's side are weak, have been for a long time, it's amazing that two generations in a row, there have been a strong male. Anyway, that's not what we're talking about, and we have to get home, because Tara will be worrying, we haven't called or anything." Nick said.
