In the End it's Right
In the end things turned out better than he could have ever hoped for. He was lying beside his wife of thirty years, their children and their grandchildren taking up the various guestrooms and available beds. The familiar weight of their golden retriever lying on the bed just past his feet was just another bit of comfort. Things had changed, they always did. Dreams he had lost were regained, found, recovered, and reveled in.
Another turning point;
A fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist;
Directs you where to go...
So make the best of this test
and don't ask why.
It's not question
But a lesson learned in time...
Warrick lived just next door, brooding over the fact that he had been forced into retirement from a hip that had been giving him problems for years. They were still best friends, and there wasn't a day that went by when they wouldn't sit on one of their front porches and talk. At times Tina would join them, but more often than not their wives would go out with the massive swarm of grandkids when they were around. Otherwise they'd go shopping, or simply sit around the house. Warrick would constantly berate Nick for retiring, when he was still strong and healthy enough to do his job. Nick would only smile and tell him that there was no place he'd rather be.
Catherine would visit at times, her hair, and spirit, still as fiery as when they had first met her. Lindsey would often join her, bringing along her husband and two kids. She would often join them on the porch, and they'd talk. It ultimately didn't matter what was said, it mattered that they were there. They'd smile, and enjoy being in each other's company once more, bringing back memories that had made them such close friends. She too had retired, after climbing the chain and actually making it to the position of director before she had left a few months later. All she ever told anyone was that she had gotten farther than Ecklie, and done so on merit.
Greg was nightshift supervisor. By far the most intriguing one the lab had ever seen. While the music had been toned down, it was still there, his antics already becoming legends in various labs across the country. Though he had never actually gotten married, his only child, a girl, was in college, studying chemistry so she could be just like her father that she adored. At times he'd visit the others, sit on the floor of the porch beside them, neglecting the offered chair. It didn't matter that his legs would get sore, and that Nick would have to help him up after a good deal of begging. He was Greg, and he was determined to be eccentric in his old age.
They hadn't heard much from Sara in years. She had held on as long as she could to her job, dreading the word retirement. But before long the fact that she could hardly handle a double shift, and that being in the field was constantly getting harder, she had known she didn't have a choice. That was the year she had left Vegas. They weren't sure quite where it was at, but they knew she lived somewhere off the coast in California. Once or twice a year she would return, stay on the porch with them, and they'd talk.
Grissom had never been given the chance to retire. Three nights before he was to give away his position as supervisor to Nick he had been hit by a drunk driver. They had all worked the case. Coming back together from their various positions. Though the good-byes had been hard, they had all done it. Nick had taken the duty, and from his view, the honor, of giving the eulogy. He had taken care of everything, just like Grissom would have done for any of them. He had been the last to offer a heartfelt goodbye, and he had let tears fall before walking back to the loving arms of his wife and his children.
It's something unpredictable
But in the end it's right
I hope you had the time of your life.
As for Nick, he hadn't hesitated to retire. He would spend all his time with Warrick and his family. When alone he would open his various books, and take in the magnificent pictures of all types of birds. He'd work on creating new toys for his grandchildren, a hobby he had begun to take more seriously for his own kids. At times he would still have nightmares, small, lingering aftereffects of all the trauma he had been through. At times he'd check the attic before going to bed, he'd still see the Plexiglas walls surrounding him, and never once had he left his own child or grandchild alone with a stranger. And when he did have nightmares he knew he had nothing to worry about. They never ended badly, no gun was ever fired that harmed himself or a loved one, they never ended with him never being freed from hell.
They always had a happy ending.
So take the photographs
and still frames in your mind.
Hang it on a shelf
of good health and good time.
Tattoos of memories
and dead skin on trial.
For what it's worth,
It was worth all the while.
Everything he had gone through had been worth it. Every hard shift, every time he had broken down, and thought it had been too much, was all worth it. Because it was during the hardest times of his life when he knew who his true friends were. They were his team. The team who had stopped at nothing to find him and rescue him from his grave. The ones who had saved him from so much, at times they had even saved him from himself.
His eyes turned briefly towards their open door and out into the hallway. Even in the dark he could see the faint outlines of the picture frames that hung from the wall. They were filled with pictures of his family. There wasn't much to distinguish the difference between the old team and his family. In a lot of ways they were a part of his family. With a small smile he turned over onto his side, and he took in the two pictures on his nightstand. There were two pictures illuminated both by the moon and by the red light of the numbers on his digital clock. One of his kids and grandkids where they were all smiling widely. He knew each of them by heart, everything from their desired futures to their favorite candy. The other picture was far older. One taken years ago, when they were all still on the same shift. Both pictures, people so different, yet they were all his family. He loved them all, with all his heart.
His smile grew, and he gently turned and kissed his sleeping wife's forehead. If he could do it all over again he knew there wasn't a single thing he'd change.
It's something unpredictable,
But in the end it's right
I hope you had the time of your life.
No matter how much pain life could throw at him he knew, without the slightest bit of doubt, that it was worth every second of it. He had learned his lesson. Life happened, all he could do was sit back for the ride, and make the best of what it brought his way.
Because, ultimately, he knew the ending would be happy.
The End
Notes: Hope to have the next chapter of 'What a Beautiful Mess' up tonight (August 4th), or at least by tomorrow morning. I got my inspiration for this story based on a special 'Seinfeld' episode where they played the song at the end of a bunch of clips. It's different from what I usually write, and that's part of why I followed through with it, since it posed something of a challenge. I'd appreciate any feedback and your thoughts on it.