Chapter 13

"So, you called him, huh?" Nick repeated for at least the fifth time since he'd arrived in the locker room. Warrick had already changed and was sitting on the bench, waiting for Nick, who was running late. Warrick guessed that he was late because he'd been busy arguing with Lucy.

"Yes, Nick. I did." Warrick agreed, knowing that his pal wanted him to elaborate but, deciding to make his play sweat, he played dumb. He chose not to add any more to his answer and instead, sat there looking as innocently dense as possible.

Nick glared at the man, thinking that sometimes it could be impossibly hard to pry information out of a stubborn man. Warrick was known as a man of few words, but this was ridiculous. With a heavy sigh, Nick gave up. "Are you going to tell me or what?"

"Tell you what?" Warrick batted his eyes at him, trying to look innocent. It earned him a sharp jab in the arm by a Texas-sized fist. "Hey now! Gemma doesn't like her merchandise damaged! Take it easy on the abuse!"

"Will you just tell me what happened between you and Sean when you called him?" Nick demanded as he finally opened his locker. Warrick rubbed his arm, giving him a pitifully sad look. "Quit being a child and just tell me before Gil comes in here and drags us off to some crime scene."

"I don't know. We just talked some. I think he has a kid. Some young girl answered the phone, called him Da." Warrick shrugged. "What I do know is that he's got some weird words he uses. I think I need to find a dictionary of the British language to make sure he didn't insult me. He said something about me being knacked or knackered. I'm not sure what he meant by that, but it doesn't sound too flattering."

"So, you have a niece." Nick nodded, grateful for whatever bit of information Warrick was willing to share. "That's pretty cool. You've got a real family."

"I have a real family right here. I don't have to go searching for anyone else." Warrick snorted.

"I wasn't meaning Gemma. I was referring to you having a brother, a niece." Nick explained, sounding a little exasperated. "There might be more than that."

"I wasn't referring to Gemma either." Warrick looked pointedly at his friend. "I already have a brother. He's giving me two nieces as soon as he gets hitched. This, by the way is coming this way rather soon."

Nick blushed with embarrassment as he realized what Warrick was saying and whom he was referring. "War-rick."

"I'm serious Nicky. You're the best brother a guy could ever want." Warrick looked down at the floor, not able to look at Nick at the moment. This was hard for him. It just wasn't like him to open up. Warrick wasn't one to talk of emotions, but he couldn't help but tell Nick what he was thinking. "I don't need blood relatives when I have you."

"Aww." Nick was speechless, feeling tightness in his chest as the words took hold. He didn't know whether to cry, hug him or run for the hills. Then, to lighten the mood he added with a snigger. "If married life makes you this sappy, what the hell is it gonna do to me?"

Nick's words comforted him as well as put him at ease. It also shocked the hell out of him. Warrick burst out laughing. Having emotional conversations with your best friend just wasn't how a guy wanted to spend his time. "You're already light-years ahead of me in that department!"

"If you girls are done having your giggle-fest, we have assignments to be given out." Catherine was suddenly at the doorway. Although her words sounded harsh, the sparkle in her eyes belied her tone. She loved to see 'her guys' so relaxed and happy. There was a time that she wondered if either would be like that again.

Sobering, Warrick stood up to follow. He was actually grateful that someone was ending this conversation before they both ended up sobbing and hugging. "Yeah, yeah. I'm coming."

Slamming his locker shut and yanking his jacket on, Nick jogged to catch up with Catherine. "Hey Cath, don't you think that married life has changed Rick?"

Catherine broke stride, pausing to look Warrick over as she deliberated her words. "Yes. He's changed."

"He's gotten mushy, right?" Nick maintained ignoring the threatening glares he was receiving from his buddy.

"Mushy?" Catherine frowned, looking from one man to the other. Nick looked her straight in the eye, waiting for her to answer. Warrick was busy glowering at the shorter man, not liking the description. "I think he's grown up a lot since he got married." Catherine disagreed. "But I wouldn't say it's made him mushy. He was mushy before, he was just too embarrassed to admit it."

Green eyes full of skepticism and astonishment turned on Catherine. Catherine shrugged. "It's the truth Warrick. You've always been so tenderhearted underneath that cool, suave exterior. You used to put on a good front, but you were a ball of mush. I could see it all the time. Gemma's just taught you that it's nothing to be ashamed of."

"God, I hope he partners me with Sara." Warrick muttered to himself as he stalked away from the pair. Nick shared a grin with Catherine as they hurried after him.

As luck would have it, Gil partnered Warrick with Sara and Greg for the night. They had a big case, but it was a simple case of murder-suicide. Still it took most of the night to work the scene. After gathering evidence at the scene, the three headed back to the lab at dawn.

It was going to be an easy case for a change and they'd actually get out of the lab at their scheduled time. Greg hurried ahead with their trace evidence, set on terrorizing Hodges while the man ran the required tests. As of late, terrorizing the irritable lab tech had become his favorite hobby and he spent a lot of time thinking up new ways to get the man's goat.

Sara and Warrick followed him in a little slower, stopping to discuss the case with the investigating detectives before making their way back to the lab to finish up with the paperwork. As soon as Warrick entered the building, Judy flagged him down. "Gemma's been here for nearly an hour. She seems really upset by something. She's in the break room."

A quick glance at his watch told Warrick that it wasn't even seven in the morning. There had to be something wrong if Gemma had dragged the girls out this early in the morning. Gemma and the girls she be snuggly tucked in their beds Worry rushed through him, and he hurried to the break room.

Sara followed, immediately taking the baby and leading Jessica away with promises of finding a computer to play on. At times, it was amazing to see Sara with the girls. She claimed she wasn't good with kids, but she definitely had a connection with them. Warrick shot her a grateful look as he enveloped his pale shaking wife into his embrace. "Baby? What's wrong?"

"Jessica had her kindergarten physical and shots yesterday afternoon." Gemma pressed her face into his chest, as if soaking in his warmth.

"Shots?" Warrick sighed in relief, thinking she was just overreacting. There were times that Gemma seemed to have a worse time of Jessica getting hurt than Jessica did. He had wondered where they were when he had awoken. He had had to drop off paperwork at the courthouse so he had left early, missing their return. "She'll be cranky, but she'll tough it out."

"That's not it. The doctor is concerned about her speech development. He wants her to see a specialist." Gemma told him with a shaky voice. "He says she should be improving on her own by now."

"Did he say what he thinks is wrong? Is it her hearing? You know Gil had problems with his hearing, his mother is deaf…."

"He said her hearing is fine." Gemma cut him off before he could continue. "Warrick, I'm scared. I don't like the sound of it…..a specialist? What if there is something seriously wrong?"

"There isn't a thing wrong with her!" Warrick snapped. "Her speech is a little off, that's it. There is nothing wrong with her that we can't fix."

"Warrick? Gemma? What's going on?" Gil came into the room seeing them both looking upset, he grew concerned. He'd seen Sara heading down the hall with the girls and wanted to know what was up. Gemma didn't bring the girls to the lab unless it was important. She made a point not to call them at work. She knew that their work was important and required their full attention. "Is there something the matter?"

"Jessica's doctor wants her to go to a specialist about her speech. He set her up with an appointment with a speech-language pathologist." Gemma told her father and husband at the same time. She was trying to stay calm, but her big blue eyes were filled with unshed tears. "He said she would recommend a surgeon if need be."

"Surgeon!" Warrick repeated. He felt himself growing cold with shock and dread. "When is this appointment? I want to talk with this doctor!"

"Tomorrow at nine." Gemma sniffed back a sob. "I'm frightened. What if something's wrong with my baby?"

"There's nothing wrong with her." Warrick declared, refusing to let the fear take over. He would not allow something to be wrong with his little girl. "It's just a little speech impediment. She'll outgrow it. We've been working on it with her on her pronunciation. We'll just have to work with her more."

"Perhaps you should wait and hear what this pathologist says before you make your own resolution?" Gil advised calmly. "Both of you go to the appointment, listen and decide after they tell you what they prescribe."

"We'll go, but only to hear them agree with me that there is nothing wrong with her." Warrick agreed defiantly adding, "They'll only just tell us exactly what we already know. There is nothing wrong with Jessica Nothing that we can't handle."

"Go to the appointment with open ears Warrick." Gil advised, his voice full of conviction. Lightening his pitch to his fatherly tone, he added. "We all know that Jessica is a sweet and bright child, let's just make sure she's healthy too."

"I'll heed your advice Gil." Warrick reluctantly consented. "But just so everyone knows that I'm against this." Unable to stand still, he released his wife and hurried out of the room, intent on find where Sara had taken his daughters.

Seeing that she still needed to be comforted, Gil took over hugging Gemma. "You know he's just being stubborn. He'll calm down after he works it all out in his head. You're doing the right thing by taking her to this specialist."

"Thank you for being here Dad. I was beginning to think that we'd have our first major fight, right here in the middle of the lab." Gemma gave him a hard squeeze. "He was so insistent that nothing was wrong. I'm glad you were here to convince him that it was necessary."

"I wasn't there for you while you were growing up." Gil shrugged. "But I'm trying to be a good father to you now."

"You are a good father and a great grandfather. Jess adores you." Gemma gave him a kiss on his furry cheek. "You did the best you could for me while I was growing up. I just really appreciate how great a father you've been to Warrick too."

"You've both made it easy for me." Gil shrugged with an embarrassed smile.