A New Addition
Pairing: Nick and Sara
While Nick, Sara and Abigail visit Sabrina and her family, Nick finally tells his sister about what happened to him at nine.
A/N: This semester, I am going back to school at a local community college (I already have a BA in Sociology, as I mention in my profile). I am taking 6 credits in Criminal Justice. This story will continue for a few more chapters (this one and seven more). I will continue to update, develop, write and publish stories, but I have to also study. Don't worry, I would never abandon my wonderful fans!
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.
Abigail First Trip to Dallas, Part Four
Nick and Sara were sitting at the dining room table with Sabrina and her husband. They were eating seven layer chocolate cake topped with some lightly sweetened homemade whipped cream and sipping on tea or coffee. The O'Brien boys were due to come home from school at any moment. It was just some calming time before the boys would come in and wreak havoc. It was a good thing that Sabrina allowed Sara to put Abigail in an old cradle in the master bedroom so she could sleep. They didn't want any roughhousing of the infant.
"Sabrina, did you make this cake?" Sara asked. "It's delicious!"
"No, I wish I could," Sabrina gave a small smile. "I bought it a local bakery this morning. It's the same one that did your wedding cake."
"Wow, no wonder the taste is so familiar!" Sara was astonished. "It's not too sweet and it's just right."
"Sara, don't forget vegetarian chili Sabrina made for lunch," Nick said. "It was perfectly spiced and I really didn't miss the ground beef that mom would put in hers while we were growing up."
"Nicky, I see that being married to a vegetarian has changed you," Sabrina observed.
"I wouldn't say it has changed me completely," Nick smirked. "I still eat meat, but I go meatless twice a week."
"What about Abigail when she gets older?" Sabrina asked with concern.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," Sara replied. "She could follow her mom or dad and we'll still love her."
"Her pediatrician told us that whatever she decides," Nick said. "We need to be supportive and not brush it off as a phase even if it is an actual phase. If we criticize her for eating one way, she'd get mad at us."
"That's the best advice anyone can offer," Sabrina smiled.
The front door opened and three boys entered making a lot of ruckus. Their father politely excused himself from the table and approached them.
"Guys, your little cousin Abigail is asleep in you mom's and my room," he told them. "How about we play a game of which boy can go into his room and put his school stuff away without waking Abigail? The winner gets a double dipped ice cream cone. Give me an answer quietly or your Uncle Nick and Aunt Sara will have to deal with a very cranky baby. First, say hello to them and your mom."
"Hi mom!" the boys said. "Hi Uncle Nick! Hi Aunt Sara!"
"Hey guys!" Nick said as he gave high fives to each nephew. "Don't you have homework to do?"
"Yes, we do, Uncle Nick," Tyler said. "However, daddy wants us out of the house for a while so Cousin Abigail could sleep."
"Go and enjoy yourselves with your dad," Nick smiled. "Your Aunt Sara and I will just sit here and talk with your mom."
"We'll see you later," Tyler said rejoining his brothers.
"Hey, I said to do it quietly!" their father said with his teeth clenched.
There was silence in the dining room as the front door opened and closed.
"Good, they're gone," Sabrina said getting strange looks from her brother and sister-in-law.
"Sabrina, what are you talking about?" Nick asked.
"We have been talking about adopting a baby girl from here or some foreign country," Sabrina said. "Now this is just the talking and thinking stages."
"I thought you were happy with just having your sons," Sara said.
"I love my boys very much," Sabrina smiled. "I have always wanted a little girl to raise and do fun girly things with. I sometimes envy my brothers and sisters since they have at least one daughter."
"Does anyone know about what you are thinking and talking about?" Nick asked.
"No, you are the only ones that know about it," Sabrina said. "Don't tell anyone since as I said before it's the talking and thinking stage! I'll tell them as soon as a decision is made."
"Your secret is safe with us," Sara smiled.
"Sara is good at keeping secrets," Nick reassured his sister.
There was a brief silence that was disrupted by Abigail screaming and crying. Tyler came running inside the house. He saw his mom, uncle and aunt stared at him with scornful looks.
"I just wanted to get some granola bars for dad, Jeff, Mike and me," Tyler said. "Mom, I wasn't anywhere near your room."
"Tyler, we believe you now," Sara said. "I think Abigail woke up and started protesting because she is hungry and needs to be changed. I'll take care of her."
Sara went upstairs to tend to Abigail. Tyler went to the pantry to get what he came for. Nick looked at Sabrina as if he wanted to tell her something important.
"Nicky, you look like something is bothering you," Sabrina sensed that something was eating at her kid brother. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Mom, we need to buy more granola bars," Tyler said. "Is Uncle Nick okay?"
"Tyler, just tell your father and brothers to go to Whole Foods and buy some," Sabrina said. "Uncle Nick is fine, he wants to talk to me about something."
As soon as Tyler left to rejoin his dad and brother, Sabrina looked at Nick and rolled up her eyes. Nick tried not to laugh and succeeded in doing that.
"So, what do you want or need to talk to me about?" she asked.
Nick took a deep breath and thought about what and how he was going to tell her.
"Do you remember back in April 1981 when mom had her monthly Public Defenders' meeting?" Nick asked. "I was nine and you were barely sixteen."
"Yeah, that was when Tricia, your usual sitter was sick with mono," Sabrina said. "Mom tried to look for a last minute babysitter for you. She tried to recruit me, but I had a date with Jake to go to see Rush in concert. Nicky, what are you trying to tell me? What does my date and Rush have to do with that babysitter?"
"The last minute babysitter was the Abernathy's niece," Nick said. "She looked like someone you could trust, the girl next door. To make a long story short and less painful, she sexually assaulted me."
There was an eerie, but brief silence.
"Oh Nick, if I had known that fucking bitch would do that to you," Sabrina said with guilt in her voice. "I would have stayed home with you and told Jake to give away the tickets."
"We had no way of knowing she would molest me when mom hired her for the night," Nick said pulling his sister into a hug as she softly cried. "I never blamed you for what happened to me. Rush wasn't at fault in this mess."
"Why did you wait so long to tell anyone?" Sabrina looked up at him and asked. "Who did you tell first Mom or Sara?"
"The first person was my colleague Catherine Willows," Nick said. "She didn't know the full story. We were investigating the murder of a 14 year old boy in his shrink's home and I thought he was sexually assaulted. I ran with the case and Catherine called me on it. That's when I told her about it. I told Grissom, but the circumstances were murky at best. Sara was the first person that I told the full story when we started dated. I finally told mom when I told her I wanted to ask Aunt Barbara to move to Vegas so she could take care of Abigail after Sara returned to work."
"Nick, I am glad you finally told me," Sabrina said calmly. "Do Dad and our siblings know about it? Have you spoken to a counselor?"
"No, and I am not sure if I should," Nick shook his head. "If Tom knew, he would track that woman down and beat the crap out of her for assaulting his kid brother years ago. I saw a therapist and she helped me a lot. However, telling Sara was the start of the healing process. I'll tell Abigail when she is old enough to understand."
"Your daughter deserves to know about it," Sabrina said. "You owe it to her. Speaking of Abigail, let's go check on her and Sara."
"Yeah, we should," Nick said.
They got up from the table and went upstairs to the master bedroom. Nick opened the door to find Sara sitting on the bed cradling a changed, fed and sleeping Abigail in her arms. He sat next to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He bent over and gingerly kissed Abigail on the forehead so he wouldn't wake her. Sabrina was standing by the door looking at Nick's family and smiled. She focused more on her brother and gained some new respect for him after his revelation.
TBC