Chapter 22

"Warrick." Gemma called out to him in her no-nonsense voice as she came into the room. When she used that tone, it made him give pause, mentally deciding if he'd done or not done something.

"Yeah Babe?" Putting his newspaper down, he turned his full attention to his beautiful wife. His breath caught in his throat. Although she was only three months pregnant, she had that natural glow about her. He couldn't seem to be able to look at her enough, and when he did, it brought about a bittersweet pain.

Gemma looked into the playpen where Suzie lay, gnawing on a set of plastic keys. With a sweet smile, she came over, sliding into her husband's lap.

"I always like when a conversation starts like this." Warrick teased as he placed a kiss on her neck, nuzzling just below the ear.

"I've been thinking about what you said before. About us needing to have a will, for the kids' sake." Gemma confessed. "I'd like to discuss who we would leave them to."

"I kind of assumed it would be Nick and Lucy." Warrick pulled away from her neck, looking at her with a puzzled look on his face. "Don't you think so?"

"Initially I thought so." Gemma professed. "But, I've been thinking about it a lot lately. They already have the girls and a baby on the way. We have our girls and a baby on the way. That's six kids with the possibility of more. How much attention would they be able to give the children? Not just ours, but theirs too. I know Nick and Lucy would treat them as their own, but…..it wouldn't be fair to any of them."

"Who would you suggest then? Gil?" Warrick pondered as he conceded to her point.

Gemma laughed loudly, "Not on your life!"

"Really?"

"I love the man dearly, but I wouldn't do that to our children. Gil Grissom is not father material. He's about as good as he can be as a wishy-washy grandfather." Gemma lay her head down on Warrick's strong shoulder. "He would take them, without a bat of the eye, but he'd be miserable and so would they."

"Cath?"

"No. She's going to be busy with her own life soon."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Warrick craned his neck so he could look at Gemma. The expression on her face made it clear, that topic was not going to be clarified anytime soon.

"I don't know enough to share. I just know…..she won't be available soon." Gemma admitted with a small sigh.

"A man?" Warrick was interested. He and Nick hadn't been able to come up with anyone they deemed worthy of their ex-boss. He wondered if Catherine had on her own.

"Yeah."

"Who?"

"I honestly don't know." Gemma told him with another sigh.

"Lucy?"

"Yeah, but don't bother interrogating her, she doesn't know who the guy is. All she knows is that he's the one that Catherine has been searching for all her life. He's the one she belongs with."

"I guess that's good to know." Warrick grew quiet as he considered this new information. "Well, hell….. Who do you suggest to leave the kids with?"

"Sara."

"Sara?" Warrick repeated with a jolt. "You want to give our kids to Sara?"

"Yes. She's a good person. She's a good role model. She loves the girls." Gemma pointed out. "Think about how devoted she is to her job. She'd be just as devoted to our children. She would be a good mother, Warrick."

"Can I think this over?" Warrick didn't want to answer just yet. He'd never considered Sara as mother material.

"Can you think of someone else?" Gemma ran a finger along the rim of his ear, knowing that it would make him shiver. He turned his heated gaze on her, his tongue darting out to wet his suddenly parched lips. "What about Sean?"

"Would we want them raised in England? They would have already lost us, only to be taken away from Grams and Gil….and the rest of our family." Warrick frowned, shaking his head.

"He's your brother. Wouldn't you want them raised by family?"

"Blood doesn't make him any more family than those without the blood ties." Warrick muttered. Gemma lay her head back down on his chest, sliding her hand into the gaping opening of his shirt. "Hey now! Behave. We've got a houseful of girls; don't start what we can't finish."

Warrick watched Sara with new eyes. He watched her at work. He watched her with his daughters. He watched her interact with their oddball co-workers. He even had the opportunity to watch her interact with a young boy, a victim of one of their cases. He realized Gemma was right. Sara was the perfect choice to appoint as guardian to their children.

As soon as he admitted this to Gemma, she decided to inform Sara of their decision and get her permission. Gemma invited Sara over for an early dinner one evening before work.

"So, what's the deal?" Sara eyed the couple suspiciously, as they finished the meal. All throughout the meal, Warrick avoided looking at her while Gemma made inane small talk. It was obvious that they were uncomfortable and Gemma was trying to cover the uneasiness. "Did my dog die or something?"

"No. We just have something we would like to discuss with you." Warrick confessed, suddenly interested in the remains of his meal. "We're sort of nervous about it."

"What could make you to nervous to talk to me?" Sara scowled. "Come on Brown! Spit it out!" She demanded, looking directly at Warrick. His response was to flush. His mouth opened and closed, like a fish gasping for air. No words came out. "Geez! Gemma?"

"We've been discussing having our Will drawn up." Gemma whispered. "And we'd like to put you as the legal guardian of the kids."

"Me?" Sara turned white with shock. Her hand was visibly shaking as she put her mug of coffee down.

"Yeah. You." Warrick lifted his head, granting her with his cutest, little-boy smile. "We wanted to get your o.k. before we went through with it."

"I-I….don't….know……what……to…..say." Sara sputtered, for once in her life, she was utterly speechless.

"Well…..You either say 'Hell No! I don't want your rotten brats.' Or maybe…..'NO, I'm not interested to ever be a mother.' Or…."No, I really don't want to have the responsibility of taking care of your kids.' Or you could say…..'Yes, I'd love to take your kids. I think I could do a better job than you anyway.'" Warrick offered in a singsong voice.

"Warrick!" Gemma gasped. She knew he was just teasing Sara, but she was still shocked. Sara choked on her coffee as she began to laugh.

Patting Sara on the back, Gemma added softly, "You don't have to give us an immediate answer. Sleep on it. Think it over, before you give us an answer. Don't feel pressured to say yes. If you decline, we'll ask Nick and Lucy."

"You mean…." Sara wheezed. "You're asking me first? Why wouldn't you ask them first?" The idea that they wanted her to be the guardian of their kids was something she couldn't quite grasp.

"We discussed all our options." Warrick explained. "We decided that you were the best of the best."

"Why me?" Sara's voice was trembling. "What about Catherine? Or Gil? What about Brass? Surely anyone would be a better choice than me!" Sara was struggling with the astonishment of being told she was their first choice.

"We had to consider who would be best for the children. We want our girls to grow up to be strong women, that's you. We want someone who can love them for who they are, we see that in you." Gemma rationalized with a shrug.

"Sara…." Warrick drew her full attention before he continued. "We wanted to pick the best person for the job. I did my homework. We both agree you are that person."

"But, how? Why?"

"I wanted someone who could be a real mother to my children." Gemma spoke softly, her words coming from her heart.

"But, I don't know the first thing about being a mother!" Sara bemoaned.

"You're a natural. "Gemma insisted.

"Sara." Warrick cut in sternly. "We've seen you with the girls. You're already so devoted to them; you'd do anything for them. That all we need to know."

"I'm honored." Sara smiled her famous 'gap-toothed Sara smile'. "I'm shocked and scared, but…..very honored."

"So…..you'll think it over?" Warrick offered again.

"No." Sara answered. "I can give you my answer right now. I'll do it." She blushed, becomingly. "Just as long as you guys promise to never actually expect me to be needed."

"You're saying yes?" Warrick repeated, suddenly releasing a pent-up breath that he hadn't realized he was holding.

"Yes. As for me doing a better job…..I could never do a better job than Gemma. But you Warrick, that's a different story."

"Yeah, picture that." Warrick grinned.