A/N: Hey! Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter – you made me so happy! A special thanks to MrsEads who went back to review all the chapters – you rock! Please enjoy and review!

Two months later, Sara was looking almost full-term with double the baby inside. She was almost five months along now, and her body was killing her. Nick watched helplessly as she struggled through morning sickness, sore feet, and an aching back. He was in even more awe of Sara than she had been before at the grace she handled her obviously difficult pregnancy. Somehow, she still managed to keep an upbeat, positive attitude despite the constant aches and pains she was experiencing. Today, when Nick came home from work, Sara was sitting on the couch watching Oprah, popping croutons in her mouth – another one of her strange cravings she'd had during her pregnancy.

"I got us Wendy's." Nick announced as he tossed his sunglasses and keys on the bar.

"Oh, thank God!" Sara told him, her mouth still munching on the crunchy little salad treats. "I love you Nick! I want to marry you!"

Nick gave her a look as he brought the meal over, giving her a peck on the cheek as he took a seat next to her.

All that Sara had requested was Frosty, which she had become addicted to during the past few months. She acted like it was a friggin' gourmet meal whenever Nick handed her one. Sara indulgently dipped a crouton into the frozen treat and popped it in her mouth, groaning in pleasure. Nick just watched her, his face contorting in disgust.

"Where the hell did you pick up that habit?"

"I'm pregnant! Leave me be! It's your children's fault – they told me to eat this. They're begging for croutons and Frosties." She shot him a pregnant death glare and continued munching. Nick just shook his head and unwrapped his Whopper (A/N: Ha! I didn't realize how sick that sounded until I typed it, but I'm leaving it!).

"Mal!" He shouted up the stairs from the couch. "Dinner's here!" Nick looked at the TV screen as the show came back from commercials. "Oh, God, not Oprah again. Please, Sara, something else."

"She makes me feel, Nick. The emotions she elicits from your cold-hearted fiancée are truly remarkable."

Nick had been patiently dealing with her raging, unstable hormones for a few months now, and he had Oprah to thank for it. He hated the fact that she'd also started watching "A Baby Story" on TLC, and she got super emotional every time – plus the idea of giant baby heads was making her nervous.

"Darlin', she doesn't need to be feeding your jack-in-the-box of emotions."

Sara backhanded Nick and then dipped another crouton into her Frosty. Ass.

Mally bounded down the stairs, her hair in pig tail braids, looking cozy in a pair of jeans and one of her dad's old hoodies.

"Wendy's!" She exclaimed, plopping down on the floor next to the coffee table. Mally's excitement about Sara's pregnancy was still in full swing. The family had since repainted the room next to hers a pale yellow (gender-neutral), and decorated it with pictures, toys, and teddy bears. She'd even bought a baby book of names and it had become a nightly routine to search for new ones. Nick and Sara decided they wanted to be surprised by the sexes, so they were trying to pick out two boy names and two girl names.

Mally grabbed her grub and immediately started dipping her French fries into her Frosty, similarly to Sara. She didn't even look up to see her father's reaction because she was so engrossed in the food.

"Y'all are nuts." He told them both, switching his gaze from female to female.

"Don't knock it till you try it dad." Mally told him.

"At least Sara has an excuse!" Nick told her, chewing on his burger. "She's pregnant! What's yours?"
"I will not indulge you in your little game, father." She spat back at him, smiling.

"Then I will not indulge in giving you an allowance." He grinned in victory.

"Will you two zip it! Oprah's back on!"

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Natalie Grissom sat on the couch the next afternoon at her own home. Her mom was working, but her dad had the day off and he promised he'd hang out with her for a while. Gil was thrilled that his daughter still wanted to be around him at the age of fourteen and prayed that it would last. It was around this age that Lindsey had gotten especially snappy and distant from him, and it had broken his heart. But with Natalie, it was so far so good. Natalie was flipping through the channels of the TV when her dad came in with a bowl of popcorn.

"Daddy! You brought popcorn!" She exclaimed from underneath her cozy pj bottoms and sweatshirt.

"I thought you might enjoy it a little." He smiled as he took the seat next to her, Natalie sitting up. "Any Full House on?" Natalie smiled.

"Yeah. It's the episode where Stephanie goes to the dentist and Joey shows her where her courage hangy ball is." It was one of Natalie's favorites, so that made Gil like it too.

"That's a good one." He put his arm around his daughter as they settled in to watch the classic episode, munching, laughing and talking all along.

The family hadn't heard much from Lindsey in the last month or so. The college freshman was keeping a distance from her family since the big blowup. She'd called her mother to let them know she'd gotten there okay, and had only called once or twice since. Lindsey only talked to her mother and father, never asking to speak to her little sister, which was just fine with Natalie. Gil was just thinking of his oldest daughter when the telephone rang.

"Grissoms." He answered.

"Is this Mr. Gilbert Grissom I'm speaking to?" Asked a professional sounding male voice on the other end of the phone.

"Yes, it is. May I help you?"

The voice sighed before continuing.

"Mr. Grissom, my name is Marshal Elders and I'm the dean at UNLV. I'm afraid I have some bad news. Your daughter, Lindsey Grissom, was recently found to have plagiarized a paper for one of her forensics classes."

"Plagiarism?" He repeated, stunned.

"Yes. The university has a no tolerance policy on this, so we've been forced to take some drastic action. Your daughter has been removed from all her classes for the rest of the semester, and unfortunately she won't receive any credit for any of these classes."

Gil paused and gaped, not knowing what to say. Lindsey was a lot of things, but he never thought she could be a cheater. What was going on with her? He needed to get in touch with her right away and find out.

"She'll receive no credit at all?"

"No, sir."

"Alright. I'll be down to get the full story tomorrow. Your name was…"

"Marshal Elders. You can find me at the administration building."

"I will. Thank you, Mr. Elders."

Gil angrily held up the phone, frustrated beyond words. She did what?

Natalie had been listening intently the entire time, and when Gil looked at her, she had an expression of mischievous eavesdropping, wanting to know more and everything.

"What happened?"

"I don't quite know yet. I need to find Lindsey." Gil got up from the couch and pulled on his jacket.

"Did she plagiarize something?" Natalie asked, based on what she'd heard her dad say.

"Nat, we need to just leave it until we hear the whole story. I don't know. Will you do that for me?"

"Yes, daddy."

"Good. I'm going to go by her dorm and see if she's there. If she comes by, will you please call my cell?"

"Yeah."

"Thank you, sweetheart." He walked over and kissed her forehead. "I am so sorry, Nat, for bailing out. You know I love to watch TV with you, right?" Gil took the moment to make sure she understood he wasn't ditching her by choice.

"I know, dad." She said, meaning it. Natalie was for once actually concerned about her sister. If what she'd heard was true, Lindsey was probably crushed. In deep trouble, but crushed. She hoped her dad would be able to find her.

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That afternoon at the Stokes residence, Nick was also on duty and it was Sara that was relaxing at home on the couch, catching yet another episode of "A Wedding Story", bawling her eyes out. Mally walked in from softball practice in some tear-away adidas pants and a tatty white t-shirt, looking like she was in pain. When she thought Sara wasn't looking, Mally bent over, putting a hand to her stomach. Sara could see through the mirror near the TV when Mally lifted her shirt up slightly that her belly was a bit red near her navel.

"Mal, you okay?" Sara asked. It didn't look like she should be asking that question, seeing as her face was red and tear-stained. Mally quickly dropped her shirt down again and looked up at Sara like a deer caught in headlights.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine." She shrugged off.

"Mal."

"What? My stomach hurts a little." Mally threw down the rest of her softball gear near the breakfast bar and proceeded around to go get a snack from the kitchen.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yea-ow!" Mally all of a sudden winced in pain, crouching over and grabbing her stomach, and she tried in vain to choke back tears. With that, Sara managed to push herself up off the couch and waddle her way over to where the fourteen year old was standing.

"That's it. What's going on, Mally? Something's wrong."

Mally breathed deeply through her mouth and let it out calmly through her nose, trying to control the pain. She felt so dumb about what had happened and didn't want Sara to know, and especially didn't want her dad to know.

"Mal, you can tell me." Sara gently touched her arm in reassurance.

"Do you promise you won't tell dad?" Mally tried, knowing that wasn't totally possible. Sara gave her a look.

"You know I can't promise that. If it's really serious, he needs to know."

Mally sighed, knowing there was no way out of it now.

"I…" She lifted up her shirt a little bit. "I got my belly button pierced and it got infected."

"Mally!" Sara gasped when she saw how red and infected her stomach was. It must be killing her. Sara also knew she needed medical attention. "How did this happen?" She bent down to look a little closer.

"Well, Ashley's older brother works at a piercing parlor and he said he could bring some of it home and give me and Ashley free piercings. I couldn't pass that up."

"Yeah, except now it's infected. Mally, that was really dangerous."

"I know, Sara." She moaned and shoved her shirt back down. Softball practice had really been hell that afternoon and she wasn't in the mood for a lecture.

"Are you going to tell my dad?"

"What do you think Mally?" Sara asked her calmly, looking her straight in the eye. "Go get changed, and I'll take you to the doctor."

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Gil Grissom was driving around the UNLV campus, though it was nearing dusk and it would be hard to see any pedestrians soon. He figured this would still be the most obvious place for Lindsey to be. After making a couple rounds through the campus, he went to her dorm to try his luck. They'd be kicking her out of there too, he figured, and would have to come live at home again. Gil would be thrilled to have her back and knew Catherine would also, but he had no doubt it was the last thing Lindsey and Natalie wanted to happen at the moment. He explained to the kid on duty at the front desk that he was her father and needed to speak with her, and he was let up to the dormitories. Making his way past questionable and scantily clad teens, Gil found his way to Lindsey's dorm. He knocked on the door, expecting she probably wouldn't be there – she probably would have gone to a friend's house for a while. Gil was surprised that seconds later, Lindsey opened the door, looking decidedly angry and upset.

"Dad?" She stared back at him questioningly. "What are you doing here?" Lindsey hadn't told anyone about her expulsion yet and figured it was confidential, but it wasn't to the person paying the bill.

"The school called."

"About what?" She asked, hoping it was something else.

Gil raised his eyebrows and gave him what can only be described as a fatherly look.

"Can I come in?" He asked.

Wordlessly, Lindsey opened the door and let her father in. Her dorm was quite different than her room at home. She had a few band posters on the wall, but it had a decidedly more "girly" tone to it – a reminder that Lindsey had changed and grown a lot since high school. Gil knew that she loved college and it had done her a lot of good. But now that was being taken away from her.

"When do you have to be out?" He asked, straight up.

"What makes you think they'll kick me out of the dorms?"

"Linds, you have to be an active student to stay here."

That erased any possibility that her dad didn't know what was going on. Lindsey wanted to hide it and yet run to her parents at the same time. She knew they'd be disappointed in her and dreaded the looks on their faces, but at the same time when she was upset, they were always there for her.

"Plagiarism, Lindsey?" The words stabbed into Lindsey like a dagger. It sounded so awful to her now. She had cheated. She used a paper that wasn't hers. She was a horrible person.

"Dad, don't start. Please."

Gil stared at his daughter intently, seeing that she was pretty hurt. He knew that she was disappointed in herself and probably didn't need to hear any more about it tonight. Lindsey did still have a conscience deep down in that twisted mind of her, and Gil knew that pondering her poor decision was a worse punishment than anything.

"Alright. I won't say another word tonight, but we'll be talking later, understood?" He tried to reason with her.

After a few moments, her hands stuffed in her hoodie pockets, she gave a quiet response of "Yeah."

A few embarrassed moments of silence later, Lindsey went to her mini fridge and pulled out a soda to drink.

"So, what are you doing tonight?" Gil asked her.

"Staying here." She looked at him like he was an idiot, but quickly dropped it when she saw the look he gave her back.

"You're always welcome at home, you know."

Lindsey played with the strings on her hoodie, uncomfortable.

"Nat doesn't want me there."

"It doesn't matter what Nat thinks. It's your home too. If you want to come home, then come home. Don't let a little fight between you stop you from being home with us."

"It wasn't just a little fight." Lindsey recalled, reminding both herself and her dad of the scratches, bruises, and blood from that night.

"Sweetheart, Nat's really sorry about what happened. I'm sure if you went back, everything would be fine."

Lindsey let out a big, pondering sigh.

"I'll think about it."

"Okay. The door's always open if you want to come back. Any time, day or night."

"Thanks, dad."

Gil walked over to Lindsey and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Though he was really disappointed, it wasn't the end of the world and he didn't want her to think so either. Life would go on, but not until after a gigantic lecture.

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"Mally Stokes." The doctor said when he walked in the door to the treatment room. "Do you remember me?"

Mally thought really hard, but didn't.

"I removed a tooth from your nose when you were six years old. One of the funniest cases I've ever had."

Mally covered her eyes with her hand. Her father had never let her forget the fiasco of that day. She wanted to see if her first tooth would fit into her nostril and it did – a perfect fit. But then, she couldn't get it out. (A/N: Read about it in Single Daddy!)

"Ah, yes. I remember now. I was terrified."

"What have you done this time?" He asked her.

"My belly button's a little infected." She admitted. As a young teenager, she wasn't thrilled about being in a paper gown in just her undergarments waiting for a male physician to examine her.

"Really? Almost as interesting as the last visit." He smiled as he sat on his swivel chair and wheeled over to where she was sitting on the exam table. "Alright, let's have a look and we'll see what we can do."

Sara sensed Mally was uneasy – being a teenager was rough, and she knew she was self-conscious about her body. She went to stand by the bed in hopes her presence would comfort the young girl at least a little bit.

"I'll need you to lie down and lift up your gown a little." He instructed her. Mally lied back on the table and then slowly bunched up her gown just above her belly, making eye contact with the ceiling the whole time.

"Oh my goodness, Mally. I can see how that would bother you just a little bit." The doctor gently examined the area, touching it lightly and finding the puncture holes. Mally looked up at Sara, her eyes telling all her discomfort.

"You're doing great, Mal. Just take deep breaths." Sara told her.

"And where's your father today?" The doctor asked.

"Uhhh…he had to work. This is Sara, his fiancée." She introduced the woman standing next to her.

"Good to meet you Sara. Looks like the family's about to expand." He commented. Sara smiled and put a hand on her stomach.

"Yes – twins in fact. I'm about five months along."

"Congratulations."

"Thank you."

The room was silent for a minute or so.

"Well, Mally, it looks like we'll need to clean out the hole that was made and then I'll need to give you a solution to keep it clean, and some antibiotics. That should clear it right up."

"Okay." She said, wanting it to be over. The doctor disappeared momentarily to get the needed items for treatment, and Mally took the opportunity to plead her case to Sara.

"Sara, will you please please please not tell my dad? He'll ground me forever." She gave her puppy dog eyes, something that still affected Sara and she knew it. Her dad had become almost immune to it over the years, but it still had some punch with Sara.

"Mally…" Sara warned. She really hated to get in the middle of their rare father daughter disagreements

"Sara, I'm getting treated and everything will be fine afterwards. Why does he need to know?"

"Because you know he wouldn't like it. Getting your navel pierced by some kid in less than sterile conditions was really dangerous. And I'm not about to hide the fact that you disobeyed him, Mal."

"He never said I couldn't get it done." Mally reasoned.

"Because you never asked him." Sara chimed back. "That's just as worse."

"Sara, please! I've learned my lesson. I'll definitely never do it again!" The puppy dog eyes came out again. "Please help me out, Sara. For me?"

Sara looked at her for a moment and pondered. The girl was right – once the treatment was over everything would be just fine and she could tell Mally would definitely never do it again. And when Mally was in trouble, she was really in trouble with Nick. Sara really wasn't in the mood to deal with that and having to baby-sit Mally. With her pregnancy and her exhaustion working in combination, she made a decision that in the back of her mind knew wasn't right.

"Do you absolutely promise you will never ever try this again?" She gave the girl the eye.

"Yes!" Mally promised hopefully, her eyes lighting up. Sara gave a huge sigh before answering.

"Okay."

Mally squealed, and then winced in pain when her movement bothered her abdomen.

"Thank you so much Sara! You're the best! I'll never forget this!"

"Yeah, yeah. You better not make me regret this."

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Later that night, Catherine, Gil and Natalie sat around the kitchen table together eating dinner. They tried their best to have family dinner as much as possible, but sometimes Gil and Cath's schedules made that impossible. Tonight, they were enjoying the meal together, though they ate in silence. Gil had told Catherine about the phone call from school and about his visit to her dorm. Catherine was slightly pissed, but also felt bad for Lindsey. She couldn't believe Lindsey would go do something like that. Her daughter was a smart girl – why had she resorted to cheating? Why did she think she couldn't do the work? All these thoughts swam through her head as she stabbed at her food.

"Cath?" Gil called her on her treatment of her dinner.

"What?" She glanced over at him, seeing a concerned look on his face. Natalie looked over at her mother. She hated to see her like this. "Sorry."

"She's just fine, Cath. I told her she was welcome to come back, but she is an adult."

Catherine chuckled humorlessly. "Could've fooled me."

They ate in silence for a few more minutes, when they heard the back door open. All three heads went up and waited for more movement.

"Lindsey? Is that you?" Gil called.

Slowly, the nineteen-year-old blonde came into view, her face sullen and defeated, her overnight bag slung over her shoulder. It looked like she'd had a long day. Immediately, Catherine's anger dissipated and she ran to her daughter.

"Lindsey!" She took her daughter in her arms, and Lindsey let her bag drop. From the table, Gil and Natalie could see her face and relieved tears began to fall from Lindsey's eyes as she clung to her mother. Catherine just continued to hold her daughter, swaying her back and forth a little in comfort. She said nothing, but they could all tell she was crying softly.

Lindsey was in thought as she was being held in her mother's arms. She was always the first to come running when she returned home, never Gil or Natalie. Though she loved her family, she always felt it was a little weird around them. Her real dad and her mom had been a family before, though not always happy, but they were a family. After her dad died, it was really bad for a while, but she and her mom were doing just fine. She adored Gil. She loved him enough to call him dad, and Lindsey truly thought of him as her father. But he wasn't. Her mom had formed a new family now with Gil, and sometimes Lindsey just felt like leftovers from her past life, a part that she knew her mother wasn't proud of. Lindsey was an accidental pregnancy, whereas Natalie was planned. She was always wanted. Lindsey was just there, trying to work through life.

The young girl watched as Gil and Natalie got up, bringing their plates to the sink. They both came over and Catherine finally let go of her daughter, allowing the other two to give her a hug.

"I'm glad you came back, sweetheart." Gil whispered, kissing her head. He gave her a wink as she pulled back and then turned to Natalie.

Despite their differences, they really did love each other deep down. They gave each other a look that only they could really understand. It was a 'you're my sister, not by choice, we don't get a long, but I still love you' look. Finally, they embraced each other for a few moments and then pulled back just as quickly. Catherine then took Lindsey in her arms again, so happy to see her.

"I'm so glad you're here, sweetheart."

Lindsey sighed and just let her mother hold her again.

A/N: Sorry for the huge dosage of angst in this chapter – more fluff will come soon, I promise! I just had to stir things up a little bit. I don't know what university policy is on plagiarism, but I felt like kicking Lindsey out of it. Let me know what you think!