Chapter 11
Warrick woke up feeling rested and happy. Gemma and her 'magic hands' had relaxed him enough to fall into a deep sleep. He remembered his wife giving him a kiss and slipping off the bed, but he didn't remember anything else until the alarm went off. When he awoke, he found Gemma nursing the baby in the nursery.
He came over to her, giving her a kiss as he caressed the bare skin above the baby's mouth with one finger. "Did you sleep well?" Gemma questioned pointedly.
"You know I did." Warrick chuckled. "Where are the girls?"
"Downstairs. I think they're watching Lady and the Tramp." Gemma watched as her husband wandered off in search of his daughter. "I made you some coffee." She called after him.
"Dad!" Jessica stood up on the couch, stretching her arms out to her father who obligingly scooped her up. "You woke up! You gonna stay home wid me?"
"Yeah, Picture That! Your Grandpa Gil would love that! I just barely went back to work." Warrick nuzzled the squirming girl, inhaling the little girl scent. Shifting her to his hip, he headed off in search of the promised coffee. "Did you have fun today?"
"Mommy took us to the zoo and to the mall!" Jessica hung onto him like a monkey as he poured himself a cup of coffee. "I got Skoo Cwose!"
"School, huh?" Warrick plopped her down on the counter so he wouldn't spill his coffee. "You looking forward to that?"
"Uh-huh! Kewwy goes to school. She gonna be in Fwist grade."
"First grade?" Warrick repeated, wondering why Jessica's speech impediments came and went. Sometimes the r's would come out and the next they wouldn't. Before he could continue the conversation, the phone rang. Lizzie let out a jarring screech of "I got it!" The phone rang two more times, making Warrick wonder if she was going to actually answer the phone, when he heard her screech into the phone. "Hullo?"
"That's not how you 'posed to ansa the phone." Jessica informed him quietly. "She just yewwed in the phone."
"Guess we'll have to work on her phone skills." Warrick nodded, making a face at his daughter, who giggled in return.
"Uncle Rick!" Lizzie screeched, coming into the room with the phone. "Grandpa Gil wants to talk to you."
With a grimace, he took the phone. "Hey Boss."
"What the heck was that? She just broke my eardrums!" Gil grumbled as a greeting.
"Hey, talk to Nicky about that. She ain't my kid. My kid knows not to scream into the phone." Warrick countered, helping the said kid to the floor with one hand as he talked. Jessica scampered off after Lizzie to rejoin Kelly in the TV room. "So what's up?"
"I need you to come in."
"Gil, I just got up. I haven't spent more than a few moments with my family." Warrick grumbled.
"I know, but I need you. I called in Nick too. Cath, Sara and Greg are all out or unreachable. I wouldn't do this to you unless I really needed you." Gil admitted. "Why don't we make a deal? You come in without arguing and I'll overlook that you used the lab to do a personal DNA test."
With a heavy sigh, Warrick looked at his watch. "I'll be there in twenty minutes. Blackmail is a low blow Grissom."
Without waiting for a reply, he hung up, before heading back upstairs with his mug of coffee to tell his wife that he was leaving early once again. He was beginning to hate this schedule of his; he never seemed to see his family awake.
True to his word, Warrick arrived at the lab in twenty minutes. He and Nick shared a meaningful look of irritation and went to work on the case they had been called in for. Nick was now a family man too, Warrick could tell the same thoughts and feelings were running through his head too. It was beginning to be time to say goodbye to the nightshift for both of them.
The case before them consumed their thoughts quickly, but the notion remained in the back of his mind as he processed the last of the scene. He was missing their lives between working and sleeping, he barely knew what was going on. What did Gemma do all day while he slept? Did she reach for him at night while he was at work? Did Jessica still wake up with nightmares? Was Suzie going to grow up with only dim memories of her father?
He didn't like all the questions that pounded his head as he drove back to the lab. He needed to talk to Gemma about this, but he was seriously considering putting in a transfer to the dayshift. If need be, he'd put in a transfer to somewhere else that could offer him more time with his family. Pulling up at the lab, he stared at Gil's truck and decided he might let the guy know what he was feeling.
Inside, Gil was nowhere to be found. He did find Greg and Catherine in a heated discussion in the break room. They stopped arguing when he entered the fray, but stood glaring at one another from their respective corners.
"What's up?" He asked casually as if he hadn't noticed the tension.
Greg put his hands up to show his innocence. "I was only trying to help! She just went all whacko on me!"
"What did you do now Greg?" Warrick questioned tiredly, looking at the younger man the same way he looked at Jessica when she was up to no good.
"He's trying to fix me up with Al! Actually suggested that I ask him out dancing!" Catherine huffed. Warrick couldn't help but laugh.
"Greg, ya ever notice the guy walks with a cane? He can't dance!"
"She doesn't have to dance with him. Clubs are still fun whether you dance or not." Greg looked like a puppy that had been kicked. Warrick figured if the guy had had a tail, it would be between his legs.
"I'm sure Cath isn't so hard up on dates that she needs to take advice from you." Warrick tried to be diplomatic even though he thought the whole situation was funnier than anything he'd experienced in a long time. Looking at the woman, he some something sparkle in her eyes and realized that perhaps she was having trouble in the dating department. He decided to play dumb about this and added. "I mean, look at her Greggo, who in there right mind wouldn't jump at the chance to date her?"
Catherine blushed and gave him a smile that was a silent thank you. Greg had the decency to look even more ashamed of himself. Excusing himself, he scurried off to harass Hodges about something. "Thank you." Catherine whispered.
"I spoke the truth." Warrick shrugged. "No one in their right mind would pass up a chance to be with you."
"You did." Catherine replied quietly. Warrick turned his green gaze on her in shock, seeing the telltale signs of wounded pride.
"You were my boss, Cath." Warrick shrugged. "At the time, I valued my job too much to risk it. Believe me, it was a hard decision."
"You say that you valued your job as if in the past tense. Something change?" Now it was Catherine's turn to sense something deeper.
"I've just been reevaluating my life and I've come to the conclusion that I don't love the job like I used to. I don't want to be here like I did before. I want to be with my wife and daughters more."
"Gemma is a lucky woman." Catherine stated with a smile.
"No. I'm the lucky one. Gil asking me to do a favor for him was the best thing that ever happened to me." Warrick grinned. "Who would have ever thought that I'd ever get married and have kids?"
"I always knew you'd make a great father, I've seen you with Lindsey. You're a great man, so I suspected you'd make a great husband too." Catherine admitted. "I'm glad you found someone who makes you happy. You deserve to be happy."
"So do you Cath, and you will be someday soon." Warrick promised giving her a quick hug before heading off to the locker room.As he changed to go home, he decided that maybe Greg had the right idea. Perhaps Catherine just needed to be introduced to someone new. He signed out and went out to his SUV, trying to figure out someone worthy of Catherine. That was the rub. Not a single person he knew fit the category.
Although he did not personally know someone who would be right for her, he knew there had to be someone out there for her. He was just going to start looking. He would recruit Nick to help him look. Nick could be discrete and he was so love-struck that he'd be willing to find someone for Catherine. Warrick had come to find, that a man in love was eager to have everyone around him in love too.
Between the two of them, they'd find someone special for Cath. She hadn't done a very good job picking them out for herself, so they'd have to do it for her. He'd run it past Nick as soon as he saw him.