Snapshots of a Small-Town Life

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI. Also, Bridgewater and Greyston County are fictional locations and the original characters that inhabit them are also fictional. Any resemblance they may bear to actual places is purely coincidental.

Rating: K

Chapter 5

Sara continued flipping through her photographs, smiling at the sight of herself in ever-larger maternity clothes, nodding proudly at more shots of their new home, taken as she began to create tidiness and order out of the chaos. There were shots of Greg on his first visit, sleeveless t-shirt, torn-off jeans and spiky blond hair as he helped her with projects she couldn't manage in her gravid state. And there was Nick.

Nick in uniform, Nick working in the garden, Nick laughing with a beer in his hand, Nick asleep in the armchair, looking, she thought, almost unbelievably cute. Even after almost twenty years of marriage the sight of him could still make her heart skip a beat.

And then there was the first photo of Rose…

Sara lay back in the hospital bed and closed her eyes. Dimly she was aware that Nick was stroking her hair, telling her that he was so proud of her, that she was so brave, unbelievably amazing, incredibly wonderful.

She felt unbelievably exhausted and incredibly sore.

The baby was off somewhere being cleaned up. She knew because the doctor had told them that it was a girl, and healthy, but she was too tired to really process the information.

She heard footsteps approaching the bed and then a soft voice spoke.

"Mr. Stokes, if you could help your wife sit up, the baby's ready for her first feed."

Sara opened her eyes and, with Nick's supporting arm about her shoulders, eased herself into a sitting position. She had heard that a woman's body was supposed to secrete endorphins during and immediately after birth that helped ease the pain, and decided that that had to have been written by a man.

Then the nurse gently placed a tiny, blanket-wrapped bundle in her arms. She felt a surge of nervousness as she gingerly accepted her infant daughter. Almost afraid, and not sure why, she peered into the baby's face.

Misty brown eyes stared back at her, and Sara felt her tiredness dissolve in a rush of love, a love more intense than anything she had ever felt before. She gathered her child close to her breast. In that instant she knew that she would do anything – anything at all – for this precious little bundle, that she would die for her if that was what it would take to protect her from the evils of the world.

For the first time in her life she caught a glimpse of what might have motivated her mother to commit murder, because she couldn't imagine ever letting her daughter go, but the thought was fleeting, swept away in the emotion of the moment.

She realised that she was crying and, looking up at Nick, saw that she wasn't the only one.

"She's so perfect," she whispered.

"Yeah," Nick agreed. "Yeah, she is."

The baby mewled and turned her head, nuzzling her mother's breast, and Sara laughed through her tears.

"I think she's hungry," she managed, fumbling one-handed at the buttons on her nightdress.

Nick helped her, and they both watched in wonder as their first daughter took her first feed.

"Get the camera," Sara told him softly.