Changed ch 2

Characters are not mine; I make no money from this.

Greg zipped up his jumpsuit and slammed the locker door. It was his first night back since the accident, and all he could think about was Katie. His neighbor Mrs. Frost was keeping her, and she'd been asleep when he dropped her off, but he was concerned. Would she be scared when she woke up, maybe think he'd abandoned her? He shook his head and headed out of the locker room. Best to keep his mind on work.

"Greggo! How's my best girl?" Nick was speed walking to catch up with him, so Greg slowed his pace a bit. Nick was almost as taken with Katie as Sara was. On second thought, no. No one was as crazy about her as Sara, except himself. She was at his house every single day.

"She's doing really well. My next-door neighbor is keeping her for me. Mrs. Frost is a retired kindergarten teacher, and she has five kids and about twenty grandkids, so she knows what she's doing."

Nick nodded thoughtfully. "Good deal."

"How is Uncle Greggo this evening?" Warrick clapped him on the shoulder.

"Ready to get back to work."

"You and Miss Katie settling in okay?"

Archie poked his head out of the AV lab as they walked by. "Classical music."

Greg stopped dead in his tracks and stared quizzically at his friend. "Huh?"

"You should play classical music for her every day. It'll make her smarter."

"Yeah, but it'll make ME lose my mind." Greg started walking again.

"THAT happened years ago. Can't lose what you no longer have," muttered Warrick.

Grissom was subdued as the last of the CSI's filed into his office. "Good evening, people. So far it's a quiet evening. Nick and Warrick, here's a trick roll at the Tropicana. Sara, Greg, continue on the Patterson case - Greg, she'll catch you up to speed. And Catherine, WE will be doing paperwork together. Quit scrunching up your face. I don't like it any more than you do. Greg, I need to talk to you before you get started."

Sara patted Greg on the arm. "We have a lot of stuff to process. Should keep us busy. Meet you at AV."

Greg kept his seat as the others trickled out of the small office. Grissom rose to close the door, then cleared his throat. "So, Greg, how are you?"

"Okay. It's an adjustment, but we're coping."

"This is an enormous responsibility you've chosen to accept." Grissom's gaze locked with Greg's. "I hope you realize that."

For once, Greg didn't look away. "I do, and I'm up to the job."

"A lot in your life will have to change. Frankly I doubt I'D be up to it."

Greg shrugged. "I guess we're different that way, then. You don't need to worry about Katie. She's my first priority."

Grissom was silent for a moment. "What about your career?"

"What about it? Catherine is a single mother, and she manages."

"Mmmmhmmmm. Well, I wish you the best with this. Let me know if I can be of help. You definitely have courage." With that, Grissom glanced down at his desk and began shuffling papers.

"So how did Katie deal with being left at the sitter's?" Sara looked away from the computer screen for a moment.

"She did fine. I'M not thrilled about it, but I'll adjust."

"I asked Grissom to start giving us the same nights off. What?"

"Nothing; I'm just a little surprised."

"Well, I was thinking, since we seem to be more a part of one another's lives these days, maybe the three of us could spend some quality time together on our days off. She needs a strong female influence that will be there for her, and I can be that. Just if you want."

Greg raised his eyebrows. Her expression was anxious and hopeful. "Yeah, I'd like that a lot." He was grinning like a kid on Christmas.

"And if you... when you have a date, I could babysit." She swallowed hard, and her expression tightened.

Greg laughed humorlessly. "That isn't likely to happen. I haven't been getting out much as it is. Now that Katie's in the picture, I don't foresee doing much socializing, at least not the kind I used to do."

Sara brightened. "Yeah. Well you have Katie, and you have me."

He squeezed her hand. "My two favorite ladies. Hope you don't get tired of hanging out with us."

She looked at him for a long time. "I won't. "