Disclaimer: see first chapter
A/N: Okay, I've really been torn about how to write this chapter. I can see both sides of the argument, but as I sat down and actually worked on the chapter, this was the character that came out. Then the interaction kind of wrote itself. I can only hope that the resulting chapter is in character, and that everyone enjoys. Let me know what you think by reviewing!
Sara was miserable for the next two weeks. Ever since the night Nick had come over for dinner, things had been tense between them. They still spent time together, but it was strained, and Nick often left much earlier than he had been over the past months. Car rides had become awkward, punctuated only by silence or the blaring radio.
Sara was also unhappy to learn, only two nights after her fight with Nick, that Grissom had decided she was to be confined to lab work for the duration of her pregnancy. To say the least, Sara was not happy with this development, and her mood over the past weeks had reflected it accordingly. There was no one in the lab that had not been subjected to Sara's wrath, though most attributed it to last trimester frustration.
So now Sara was holed up in a corner of the break room, going over the never ending stack of case files in front of her. It appeared that when Grissom told her "confined to lab work," he really meant, "paperwork bitch." She'd noticed first, reports that had been on Grissom's desk for weeks were finding their way in between labs that needed signed off on and cold case files that needed to be reviewed, but now Sara was certain that she was doing all of Grissom's paperwork; yet another thing that pissed her off.
"Hey, does anyone have a minute to do me a favor?" Catherine called from the break room door, drawing the attention of both Sara and Greg, who was starting a pot of coffee. "I need these reports dropped off at PD, but Warrick needs my help out at a scene, and if I don't leave now, I'm gonna get stuck in traffic."
"I'll do it," Sara announced eagerly, pouncing on the chance to get out of the lab for even a little bit.
"Thanks Sar, I owe you one. Oh, these are going to Vartann." Catherine set the reports down on the table and hurried out to the car.
It took Sara awhile to get everything put away and get up from the table, much to Greg's amusement.
"Want some help there Sara?" Greg asked, offering her a hand. Sara rolled her eyes, but accepted his outstretched hand. Once she got up from the table, he gathered the files she had been working on and offered to take them back to Grissom's office for her while she went to PD.
Sara made the short drive over to the Las Vegas Police Department, pleasantly surprised to find a parking space close to the entrance. As she made her way up the walkway, Brass came barreling out the door. His face lit up when he noticed her.
"Hey sweetheart, Grissom finally let ya outta the lab?"
"Catherine," she corrected with a smile, "she asked me to run something over. Gris is still keeping me buried in paperwork."
Brass took her arm and turned around to escort her into the building, chuckling the whole time. "Between you and me, I think he's worried you'll go into labor if he gives you anything more strenuous to do. He knows a hell of a lot more about bugs than babies. And…" he lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "I think Warrick and Nick put him up to it. But don't tell them I was the one that ratted them out."
"Well, I don't think I'm going to be going into labor anytime soon," Sara answered, sighing, "I feel like I'm going to be pregnant forever."
"She'll make her appearance when she's good and ready. And you let me know if you need anything in the mean time. I've got a meeting with the sheriff, so I'm gonna head out, but call me if you need anything, alright?" Sara nodded as Brass kissed her cheek and headed back out towards his car.
She made her way down the hallway slowly, savoring the feeling of doing something else besides filling out massive amounts of paperwork. She found Vartann coming out of an interrogation room, handed him the folders, and made idle chit chat until her bladder decided to make its presence known.
As she emerged from the rest room, feeling much better now that the pressure on her bladder was relieved, she didn't notice the person coming down the hall until he nearly ran into her.
"Sorry," the man mumbled, after quickly stepping out of the way. "I wasn't watching where I was going. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm…" A panicked looked crossed Sara's face when she looked up and saw who she had nearly run into. She recovered quickly though, and prayed that he didn't recognize her. "I'm fine," she choked out.
His eyes widened with recognition, and he nervously ran a hand through his hair. "Hey, Sara…how are you doing?"
She plastered a grin on her face, and hoped he didn't look down. "Hi Michael. I'm…I'm great. How are you doing?"
"I'm okay. Wow…I guess you are doing well." He laughed nervously. "How long…I mean, when are you?"
Sara thought quickly. "Oh, eight and a half months. I'm due any day now." Never before had she been so glad that she looked much further along than she actually was. She watched the panic flash through his eyes as he mentally counted back, and then the huge relief that passed over his face.
Sara didn't miss the, "Oh, thank God," that passed over his lips in a tiny whisper as he realized that given the timeline Sara had given him, she was pregnant before that night. Though she didn't want him to have any involvement, she still took that as a slap in the face. Her expression darkened, and she moved to pass him, but was stopped by his hand on her arm.
"I'm sorry Sara, it's just…this wouldn't be the best time, if you were…I mean, if it was…but it's okay, right? I mean, you've probably got a great guy in your life, and you guys are really happy about this baby."
Sara could feel her eyes well up, as she was able to tell him the truth for the first time since their conversation started. "Yeah, I'm really lucky…he's great."
"Does he know you're down here? Is everything okay?"
It took Sara a second to process his question. "Oh, yeah, everything's fine. I work here; well, indirectly at least."
Michael's brow furrowed. "Here? I thought you said you were…" he grappled for an answer. "…a scientist?"
"Criminalist, actually," Sara answered matter-of-factly, "and I was just dropping off some paperwork. I work mostly out of the crime lab down the street. I never expected to run into you here…" She was beginning to ramble, something she often did when she was nervous.
"Yeah, well I guess that's what happens when your car gets stolen. My wife convinced me to come down and file the report today."
Sara was sure her mouth fell open at that revelation. There was the second slap in the face in such a short conversation. Not only had she had a one night stand, which resulted in her surprising pregnancy, but she was now standing in front of the man, unable to tell him that it was his, and the icing on the cake was that he had been married at the time. Sara suddenly felt very sick.
He quickly fumbled for an answer. "No, Sara…we were separated, when you and I…it was only a couple of weeks ago that we reconciled."
"I should really be getting back to the lab, uh, good luck with getting your car back."
Sara refused to let him see her cry, so she didn't even turn around when he called, "Congratulations again."
She fought hard to maintain her composure throughout the drive back to lab; all she needed was to start crying so hard that she wound up in an accident. As soon as she got back from PD, she headed towards the bathroom, figuring it was the only place in the lab where she could cry without interruption. She didn't count on running into Greg on the way.
"Hey Sara," he called cheerfully, "What do you say we play hooky for a little bit, I found Hodges secret stash of Ben and Jerry's in the back of the freezer."
Sara opened her mouth to respond, but choked on a sob, bursting into tears in the middle of the hallway. Greg looked at her, concerned, and then rushed to her side, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her into the nearest empty room.
"Sara, what's wrong?" Greg asked, settling her into a chair before pulling one over for himself.
"Oh Greg…" she sobbed, letting the entire story spill out, everything from her fight with Nick to her run in with Michael at PD.
"Wow," was all Greg could respond with, letting her sniffle on his shoulder. "So he was really there, huh?"
"In the flesh…"
"Really?" Greg raised an eyebrow. "Walking around naked in the Las Vegas Police Department? What did Brass say?"
"Greg…" Sara groaned, but she couldn't help but smile the tiniest bit.
"I'm gonna go tell Gris that you're not feeling well, and then I'll take you home, okay?"
Sara nodded and lifted her head off of his shoulder, sniffling one last time before wiping at her eyes. "I'll meet you in the locker room in a couple minutes?"
Greg dropped a kiss on the top of her head and stood up. As he left the room, Sara tried to get her breathing under control. Right now, she just wanted to go home, crawl underneath the covers, and stay there until she went into labor. When she felt ready, she pushed herself out of the chair and walked down to the locker room, trying to ignore the stares from passersby; she knew she must look like a mess.
Sara gathered the few things she needed from her locker, and dropped down onto the bench, resting one hand on the bench to brace herself, and the other on her abdomen. She was wondering why she just hadn't told Greg to meet her at the car, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around, expecting to find Greg, and surprised to find Nick behind her.
"I ran into Greg in the hallway…he told me what happened," Nick whispered, rubbing her back soothingly.
"I'm going to kill him," Sara replied, but her voice was devoid of the anger usually associated with those words.
"It wasn't his fault…I heard him tell Grissom you weren't feeling well, and I made him tell me what was wrong. If it makes you feel any better, I had to practically beat it out of him."
Sara smiled faintly and sighed. "I…I'm sorry…" She started to sniffle again, amazed by how easily they were able to put the past few weeks aside.
"Hey, none of that, okay?"
"But…we fought, and things have been so bad…"
"Let's just go home, c'mon." Sara allowed Nick to help her up and guide her out the door.
As Nick walked her out to his car, he pulled Sara close, and she couldn't help but feel safe. It felt good to be in Nick's arms again, and it was a feeling that Sara realized she didn't want to live without anymore.