Again, thanks to everyone who's reviewed, and I own nothing… Except for Nick and Sara's little baby of course! :-P

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Valentine's Day

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"I can't believe you're actually going on maternity leave." Greg had a hint of disappointment in his voice as he and Sara sat together in the break room just before shift.

Sara laughed. "Greg, I have to. I probably should have started a while ago, but you know me."

"Yeah, we all know you, Sara. That's why we're surprised that you're actually going to stop working," Warrick joked as he entered the room and got himself a cup of coffee. "I mean you do realize you'll have to stop working, right?"

"Yeah, Warrick, I know."

"We're going to miss you," Greg said quietly, reaching for one of her hands.

"Hey, you know you can call or come and visit whenever you want."

"It's not going to be the same though," Warrick added, leaning against the counter.

"Guys, please don't make this harder than it already is," Sara pleaded.

"Hey guys!" Nick greeted as he, Grissom, and Catherine entered the break room.

"Well, since it's Sara's last day for a while, and it's also Valentine's Day, I've decided to have a little party. That's why I wanted you all here a little early," Grissom explained. "That way we can eat this cake before shift starts."

"Thanks, Grissom," Sara said standing up from the couch and giving him a small hug.

"Well, here it is," Catherine announced uncovering a small square cake with white frosting. There were small red and pink hearts around the border, and 'We'll miss you Sara" was written in flowing cursive across the cake.

"Wow," Sara breathed. "It's beautiful. Thanks, guys."

Nick came to stand beside her, and placed his hand on the small of her back. "Can I see you outside for a second?" He whispered in her ear.

"Sure," she replied with a smile, letting him lead her to the door.

"Hey, guys, we'll be back in just a few minutes," Nick announced to their co-workers. "Save us two pieces of cake."

"Better make that three," Sara added, rubbing her abdomen, causing Catherine to laugh. She knew what the younger woman was feeling.

Nick led Sara out into the hallway. "So what's up, Nick?" she asked him.

"It's Valentine's Day," he said, stating the obvious.

"So I heard." There was a slight hint of sarcasm in her voice.

Nick chuckled. "Sine I had to pull a double and haven't even been home since yesterday before shift, I never got the chance to do anything special for you."

"You don't have to do anything."

Nick's voice was low, and a bit hushed. Sara could tell he was nervous. "I know, but I wanted to do… Something… To show you how much I care about you, and how much I… How much I love you."

"Nick-"

"I had this whole thing planned out," he continued, cutting her off. "I was going to come home from work this morning, and make you breakfast in bed and everything. But then Grissom told me and Warrick we had to stay another shift. So I couldn't come home."

"You did call me, though," Sara pointed out.

Nick met her eyes, and spoke simply. "It's not the same."

Sara raised an eye brow at him. She could feel butterflies in her stomach. "Nick, what's going on? You're acting strange."

"I technically have the night off," Nick whispered.

"Then why are you here?"

"Because it's your last night. And we're having this party for you."

"You can go home after the party then. Nick, you're exhausted. Just go home. We can talk later, okay?" Sara placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I don't want to go home. I'm fine, really."

"Nick, please? Just go home, and get some rest. By the time you wake up, I'll be home, and we can talk then. We can talk as long as you want. I promise."

Nick gently took Sara's hand in both of his. He slowly got down on one knee and looked up at her.

"Nick-" she pleaded.

"Sara, when you walked into my life four years ago, I never thought you'd be the one to take my heart."

"Nick, please get up," she begged again as more people began filling the halls to see what the commotion was about.

"I know I've screwed up," he continued. "But I want to spend the rest of my life making it up to you. Would you let me do that?"

Sara looked around and noticed that Grissom, Catherine, Warrick, and Greg were all watching from the break room. "Nick, can we please talk about this later?" She whispered.

"Sara, will you marry me?" Nick asked with a tear in his eye.

Sara felt her heart breaking in a million pieces. She couldn't do this. Not here. Not now.

In the break room, there was complete silence. Catherine had a death grip on Warrick's hand. Greg was so nervous, he was sweating bullets. Grissom, on the other hand looked as cool as a cucumber. Well, that's what he wanted everyone to think. On the inside he was extremely nervous for both of his CSI's. He knew this was a huge step for both of them.

Nick had told the whole gang that he wanted to ask Sara to marry him. Grissom didn't like that he'd had to keep Nick at work all day, but they had a deadline that had to meet. Nick had a choice; to stay at work, or to have Sara called in. And there was no way he was going to have Sara come in and have to pull a double on her last day before maternity leave.

The few second between the time the words left his lips, and when Sara finally responded seemed like an eternity to Nick and everyone else watching them.

Sara hated that he'd done this at work; especially right at the beginning of shift. She swallowed the lump that had formed in the back of her throat and tried to find her voice. "Nick…"

There was something in his eyes that she'd never seen before, and she knew she was breaking his heart.

But finally she dropped her gaze away from his, and whispered, barely audible. "I can't."

"What did she say?" Greg asked, nervously.

Catherine turned away from the window, and closed her eyes. "She said she can't."

"Oh."

"It wasn't the right time," Warrick stated.

"When will it ever be the right time for those two?" Catherine asked, trying not to let her emotions get the better of her.

"They'll find it," Grissom stated simply. "We have work to do. Catherine, in a few minutes I want you to get Sara and go over the evidence from that 419 that I gave you last night. Maybe she'll be able to help you out with it. Warrick, why don't you take Nick and go get some dinner or something? Both of you have the night off, remember? Greg, you're with me."

The rest of the group nodded.

"I'll clean this up," Grissom said motioning towards the cake.

"You know, when we were in the hospital, I really thought-" Catherine started.

"Yeah, so did I," Warrick agreed with her.

"I don't understand it," Greg spoke up. "They love each other. I mean they always say 'I love you', and everything. They live together. I'm sure they sleep together, too. So why did she say 'no'?"

Warrick patted him on the back. "I don't know. But this is Sara we're talking about here. Who really understands anything she does?"

"Come on guys. We've got work to do. Now I want you to go do it," Grissom said sternly as he covered the cake and set it on the counter.

Back out in the hall, Nick was still down on one knee, staring up into Sara's eyes. "Sara," he whispered.

"Nick, please get up. We've got to get to work." Sara glanced over at her co-workers in the break room. They were talking amongst themselves, and she was sure they'd be coming out soon enough to tell them their assignments. "Please?" She begged Nick one last time.

He slowly stood up, not letting go of her hand.

Warrick and Catherine chose that moment to come out of the break room. Catherine spoke first. "Sara," her voice was soft and gentle. "Grissom wants to go over the evidence of the 419 that he gave me last night."

Sara nodded and followed Catherine down the hall to one of the layout rooms.

Warrick looked over at Nick. He could see the pain in his eyes, but didn't want to bring it up. Not right now. Not right here. "We're off. Grissom wants us to go home. Come on, I'll buy you dinner."

"I'm not hungry," Nick stated.

Warrick sighed. "Just leave her be for a while, Nick. Talk to her about it later."

Nick sighed, and slumped his shoulders. "Okay."

"Now let's go get some food. I'm starving."

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   TBC

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