(A/N) Hey everyone, this is something that I am trying out…I have WONERFUL betas for this (thank you to: EquestrianBabe, Irken Gir, and Forensic Puppy), and I really hope that you guys like it. If you like it, review, and I'll continue, and if you want to be a beta leave your email address in your review and I'll send you my chapters, ok? And on another note, this may or may not be an AU, and it might be OOC; but I'll explain that, that part is intentional.

Title: Just Remember…

Author: Indiegurl2008

Summary: She disappeared mysteriously 8 years ago, everyone thought that she died, her husband still loves her, but he has given up on her, but when he goes far away to investigate a case, everything changes.

Chapter 1

"I'll be back in a couple of hours…I need to find something…wait for me…"

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"Stokes"

"It's Catherine; we have a car crash…I15 south, total damage, and you need to come."

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"Oh God, that's her car!"

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"We couldn't find the body, all there is; is a ring."

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"Dad, wake up!"

Nick opened his eyes painfully, and the sun poured in. He squinted and turned around, and then saw his eight-year-old daughter, Alyssa (who looked just like him),jumping on the bed and yelling choruses of "Dad, wake up! Dad, wake up!"

"Dad, you promised to take us out to lunch; it's already noon," a more sensible Emily said from the door.

"But if you're tired, I'll make something." Christina answered taking her place behind Emily. Emily, at 15, had beautiful long brown hair and hazel eyes, she looked like a mixture of her mom and dad;whereas Christina, the eighteen-year-old, looked exactly like her mom; brown, straight hair, and beautiful hazel eyes.

"Hello?" Emily called, awaking Nick out of his silent reverie. "Are we going out to lunch or not?" she asked impatiently.

"Fine, wait for a little bit, and I'll change and be right out…ok?" Nick answered.

The three sisters walked out of the room, animatedly talking about something that they had seen the previous night on television. He was reminded of his wife; her laughter, her eyes, and the way she did everything. Silent tears poured out of his eyes as he thought of the one whom he loved. He slowly got out of bed and went into the shower. As the warm drops of water hit his back, he finally did what he had been holding back. Nick sobbed over the loss of someone so much more precious to him than anyone else; someone who loved him more than any other: his wonderful, caring wife, Sara Stokes.

They all went out to the nearest diner; they went there so regularly, everyone knew their name, the usual order, and how old the kids were.

"Hey Tom," Nick said as he walked in. "How's everything for y'all?

"Pretty good, how are your young ladies doing?" The portly man (who must have been Tom) asked, wiping the bar with a rag. Then he added as an afterthought: "My, my, you girls just grow up everyday! Christina, you look so much like your mom…it's amazing," he said, remembering Sara. Knowing how her dad felt when people mentioned her mother, Christina quickly replied:

"We're doing great, and thanks, I'll take that as a compliment." Tom smiled, showing yellow teeth.

"What about me?" Alyssa asked.

"Well, what about you?" Tom began, "You look like a princess." Emily smiled while hoisting a giggling Alyssa up onto a stool. They all ordered cheeseburgers and fries and ate lunch while Nick sat and watched.

After lunch, Emily asked Nick: "Dad, what was mom like? I…we…we want to know about mom; all Alyssa knows is that Christina looks like her, but that's not enough, for her that is... Please tell us."

"You girls know, I'll tell you about her when I am ready, just not yet."

"When will you be ready?" Alyssa asked seriously, which was a first.

"I don't know yet," he said, gripping the steering wheel.

"That's not good enough," Emily declared. "We need to know about her; everyone at school asks me what my mom is like, but I can't give them a lot because I was seven when she left, Alyssa doesn't even have a clue! I don't know about you, but to me, there is something wrong there!"

"Emily…" Nick said warningly, "If you don't cut this out, you are going to be grounded."

"She's right," Christina said. "You have been holding back on us dad; you haven't shown Alyssa a picture, or anything! I wish that you would."

"Yeah, but do you have to mention me?" Alyssa asked.

"Yes…" Emily answered, then continued talking to Nick: "Please, dad?" Emily asked pleadingly.

"Fine," Nick said, wanting the discussion to be over as soon as possible.

He pulled up into the driveway and went into the beautiful Spanish-style condo, the children following. They slowly went upstairs while Nick got ready for work. He went earlier than he used to-around three o' clock. Christina peeked into the doorway.

"Dad, thanks, I think that what you are doing is great…I really do want Alyssa and Emily to know about mom. I love you dad." She smiled and kissed him on the cheek, and he kissed her back.

"You're welcome," he said heavily; he was just going to make up an excuse tonight, but now, he didn't want to do that; his daughters' trust in him made him realize how much Sara would've wanted her children to know about their mom. Christina already knew about her-after all, she was ten when Sara disappeared, and Emily probably remembered some things. Christina smiled and walked out of the room. She had inherited the famous "Sara smile," as well as her mom's teeth. Nick walked out of the master bedroom and walked outside, into his Denali, and off to the LVPD crime lab.

After a horrible shift, Nick walked out cradling his right hand (paperwork), limping on his left foot (one of Catherine's experiments), and looking about ready to cave in. He slowly trudged his way out into the parking lot, and saw Grissom walking out of his car. "Returning from a scene?" he asked.

"Yeah, 419 and a possible kidnapping. Ecklie might have all of us on the case soon enough. Go home, Nick, you need some rest now… You look like you're dead!" He laughed and Nick walked right back into his car. When he got home, the kids greeted him at the door. He groaned, remembering that he would tell them about how he and Sara met, the marriage, and everything else. He really hoped that Alyssa would fall asleep somewhere in the beginning, but he knew that would never happen. They all followed him upstairs, and when he went into his bedroom, something grabbed his shirt; sure enough, it was Alyssa.

"And where do you think you're going?" she asked.

"To change my clothes, Lyssie. You and your sisters just go into the living room and get comfortable. I'll be there as soon as I can." Nick smiled as he looked at the wonderful faces of the kids whom he loved so dearly. After he changed, he walked out into the living room where the kids were drinking some soda. He brushed this off, not making his usual comment about drinking soda in the house after nine. "Okay, where should I begin?"

"Do when you two met. Christina heard this one but I didn't," Emily said

"Well," Nick began, remembering a time: "It was in 2000; she came to investigate Warrick, because he did something wrong." He paused briefly. "We became great friends, flirting with each other on different occasions. She liked our boss, Grissom, at that time. She flirted more with him than me. So, I pushed all thoughts of us getting together, and I focused on my career. Late 2004, the lab manager Conrad Ecklie split up our famous night shift. He put Catherine as Swing Shift supervisor, and Warrick and I followed. Grissom, Sara, Greg, and Sophia stayed in the night shift. Well, pulling us apart brought us closer together…"

(A/N) What did you think? I will be beginning the next story with the flashback, and I will not have these annoying notes. Ok I have one favor to ask, could everyone please review if you want to read more? Otherwise, I have absolutely NO IDEA if I need to improve or not.