A New Addition
Pairing: Nick and Sara
Two days after Christmas, Nick, his brother and their brothers-in-law and father hang out in Nick's apartment watching a college football game and doing some male bonding. Where are the women and children? They are having tea time at the Bellagio or at the Las Vegas Zoo with Greg, Catherine, Grissom, Lindsey and Warrick.
Disclaimer: I don't own Nick, Sara or any other CSI character. I do own Nick and Sara's families and any other non-CSI character.
Nick's College Bowl Party
"Congratulations Nick!" Ryan Goldberg said. "You are now a member of our fraternity."
"I am a member of one from college," Nick protested as he took a sip of his beer.
"No, you had become a father this past Halloween when your daughter was born," Tom said. "You are one of us now and your initiation is to tell us what it was like to meet her for the very first time."
Nick grinned and deeply thought about that Halloween morning that forever changed his life in a positive way.
"When Abigail was born," Nick smiled. "It was one of the happiest days of my life besides the day I met Sara and the day I married her. When they laid her on the towel to clean that crap off her, she was screaming and crying real loudly. I said to myself for a little creature with tiny lungs, she makes really big noises. When I cut the umbilical cord, it was a very surreal moment. After the nurse weighed, measured and examined her, she was wearing a little pink hat and wrapped with a matching blanket. As soon as she handed the baby to Sara, both our hearts melted. We had just met this adorable little bundle of joy, but we felt like we already know her."
"Nick, isn't it true that she already met your colleagues?" Peter McMullen asked.
"I brought her to the Labor and Delivery waiting room so she could meet them," Nick said. "She was received warmly. The only person I had to worry about was Greg Sanders. He is our newest CSI, but he used to be our lab rat, I mean tech. He was very jumpy before he was about to hold her. I was ready to kill him if he hurt my fragile newborn daughter. Luckily for him, he calmed down so he could hold her. However, he pissed me off when he told her that he will get her hooked on punk rock. Sara and I are raising Abigail and any of her future siblings on hard rock, new wave, jazz, classical and country music. If I ever catch her listening to his favorite music, I will kick his ass."
"It looks like she might rebel," Tom said. "Audrey and I didn't want Eliana to listen to that Britney Spears girl. Guess what? She started to listen to that girl's music. Fortunately for everyone, she outgrew it within a year. Nick, you can talk to your daughter about her future tastes in music until you are blue in the face. She will listen to whatever music she wants. I especially remember coming home for Christmas during my final year at law school. You were already a teenager listening to that Iron Maiden stuff. Mom and dad talked to you so many times about listening to that metal music will shrink your brain."
"Tom, that was the mid 1980s," Nick said. "I also listened to Mötley Crüe and Twisted Sister."
"Oh, I remember Kathleen wanting to buy you Twisted Sister's 'Stay Hungry' album for your 13th birthday," Peter said. "She was six weeks pregnant with Zoë and almost aggravated her morning sickness when she saw the cover. Some guy was sitting down holding up a leg of lamb and he had his mouth open. I was appalled that my wife's youngest brother would like something like that."
"So that explains why I got the Scandal's 'Warrior' album instead," Nick said almost mortified. "I also was on the receiving end of a lecture from mom and dad."
There was silence.
"Since when did the story of my daughter's birth become one of me getting lectured by mom and dad about Twisted Sister's gross album cover?" Nick asked with a whine.
"You were talking about how Greg Sanders wants Abigail to like punk rock music," Thomas said. "I think we took a fast run down memory lane to when you were a teenager."
"It was more like a NASCAR like car ride," Ryan said.
Nick's father, brother and brothers-in-law chuckled. He was sort of humiliated over being reminded of his heavy metal listening teen days. Now, he listened to hard rock, new wave, country, jazz and classical music. He got up from the couch and went to the kitchen debating whether to call Sara or not. She went with his mother, sisters, sister-in-law and the nieces who were at least 14 years of age to have afternoon tea at the Bellagio and took Abigail with her. All of his nephews and younger nieces went with Greg, Warrick, Catherine, Lindsey and Grissom to the zoo. He decided to let his wife drink tea and eat cucumber and cheese sandwiches and pastries with the women in peace. He made another batch of popcorn and grabbed another beer.
"Nick, halftime is over!" Tom shouted. "Get the hell out of the kitchen! Texas is beating Arkansas 28-7!"
"May those Longhorns beat the Razorbacks 56-7!" Nick shouted as he returned to the living room. "Actually, Texas should have shut out Arkansas. That asshole of an outside linebacker shouldn't have tackled the tight end like that, intercepted the ball and ran it all the way for a touchdown. I thought I saw that creep grab that guy's face mask! The officiating is crappy! Also, if I hear that damn hog call once more, I am going to scream bloody murder!"
"Nick, there are more than enough Longhorns fans that sitting at the stadium who are more than happy to drown out that stupid cheer," Thomas attempted to reason with his youngest son. "You will not have a conniption in front of us!"
"Thanks, dad," Nick breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's kickoff of the second half," Ryan said. "Let's root for those Longhorns!"
The eight men where seated and eating some of the popcorn. When Texas scored its first touchdown of the half, there were high fives the soft tapping of beer bottles and a few cheers. Nick smiled and did a dorky version of the happy dance when the cornerback sacked the Arkansas quarterback and he almost dropped some of his popcorn and nearly spilled his beer.
"Nicky, if you spill some of that beer on the carpet," Peter threatened. "Sara will kick your ass if you don't clean it up."
"Shut up and watch the game!" Thomas shouted.
Things got a little calmer, but that didn't last long. The dazed Arkansas quarterback threw the football and an extremely alert Texas linebacker caught it as an interception. He ran that ball all the way for a touchdown. The Stokes men were going wild when the score was 42-7 Texas. There was another round of high fives and some hollering.
"There are a lot of happy people in Austin," Nick said. "I am sure there will be plenty of miserable people in Fayetteville."
"Nicholas, be happy for Austin and the rest of Texas," Thomas said. "We are winning!"
A few moments later, the tables were turned. Arkansas scored a field goal bringing the score to 45-10. Even though the eight men hanging out in the living room were upset, they knew that the Razorbacks couldn't do major damage as the third quarter came to a close.
It was during commercial break when the phone rang. Nick got up and answered the phone.
"Hello!" Nick said.
"Nick, it's me Sara," a woman's voice on the other end said.
"Sara, how are you?" Nick asked. "How's the afternoon tea at the Bellagio? What about Abigail?"
"I am fine," Sara said. "Having afternoon tea with your mom, sisters and some our nieces is awesome. Maybe Catherine, Lindsey and I should do this every other week. Abigail is doing fine, she is a very good baby. How is the Texas-Arkansas game going?"
"Texas is beating Arkansas 45-10," Nick smiled.
"That's great," Sara said happily. "Nick, I have to get going. I left the tearoom to change and feed Abigail and I have to get back and enjoy this new and interesting tea that has been highly recommended by the staff. I have also asked if I could take home some chocolate mint mini tarts. I should be home in about an hour. Tell your dad, brother, brothers-in-law that I say go Texas Longhorns."
"I will," Nick smiled. "I love you and Abigail!"
"We love you, too, Nick," Sara said and they hung up.
"So, how are the women doing in that afternoon tea?" Tom asked.
"They are having a great time," Nick smirked. "Sara called and told me about it. She told me to tell you 'Go Texas Longhorns!'."
"I can't believe a Harvard girl would root for Texas," Josh said. "We appreciate that she supports us!"
"Guys, the fourth and hopefully final quarter begins," Nick said. "Come on Longhorns! Keep those Razorbacks away from the end zone!"
"Oh shit, it's now 45-17!" Peter whined as Arkansas scored a touchdown.
"Peter, Texas is still winning," Nick tried to calm his brother-in-law. "There is still twelve minutes left of the game. I know a lot can change, but there is absolutely no way in hell the Pigs can come back from a28 point deficit."
"Nick, let's hope you are right," Peter said with slight optimism in his voice.
Another five minutes, there was some happy news. Texas kicked a field goal bringing the score to 48-17. The men cheered and did some lame wave that never looked good. The game ended with Texas beating Arkansas 55-24 making the Stokes men very happy. Knowing that Sara, Cynthia and Abigail would return, the guys did a little light cleaning of the living room.
"That was a very good game," Nick beamed.
"Texas beating Arkansas in any collegiate sport is a great game, Nick," Thomas said.
A half hour later, Cynthia, Sara and Abigail returned to the apartment. Sara and Cynthia approached their husbands and kissed them. Nick gingerly took Abigail off Sara's hand and cradled. He gently kissed her on the forehead and he took her to her room so she could take a nap. Thomas took his sons-in-law back to their hotels so they could be reunited with their wives and kids. Tom stayed with his mother, brother, sister-in-law and niece for awhile. An hour later, Nick took his brother back to his hotel and returned to the apartment.
TBC