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 6
"Mom, why are you crying?" Jenny asked, and Sara gave a shaky laugh.
"I was looking at pictures of your sister when she was born. I was so happy that day."
Jenny poured herself a glass of water, then wandered over to her mother's side and looked down at the photo in her hands.
"She's all red and wrinkly," she observed disparagingly.
"Yeah," Sara agreed. "So were you and JJ."
"But not Abby?"
"No," Sara's face clouded briefly. "Abby got her umbilical cord caught around her neck. It almost strangled her and when she was born she was all blue and limp."
"But she was okay, wasn't she?" Jenny asked anxiously, although she had seen her sister at breakfast not three hours earlier. Sara smiled again.
"Yeah, she was fine. The doctor was wonderful; she sorted her right out."
She set a photo of baby Rose aside for Rose's album, returned the others to the envelope and put the envelope back in the box.
"Let's see." She drew out the next envelope.
"That's Granny and Grampa Stokes!" Jenny exclaimed excitedly.
"Yeah," Sara told her. "They came to visit just after Rose was born…"
"… Now don't you worry about a thing," Jillian Stokes told her newest daughter-in-law. "You just relax and let us take care of you."
Sara felt a surge of affection for this woman, who hadn't even been invited to their wedding, and vowed never to laugh at another mother-in-law joke again.
Jillian, aided by Cassie Marlin and,for the first few days, by her husband until he had to head back to Texas for work, had been as good as her word, and had taken care of everything during the first couple of weeks after the birth, gradually handing control back to Sara until she was ready to take full responsibility for her newly-expanded family. At which point, Jillian had discreetly departed for Texas with a promise to return at once should she be needed.