A/N: Another shout out to my reviewers: NickGilGreggonumber1fan, lovestoact, Sara Duquesne, Jayme Beth, Jennie, nickysbabygirl, 38039, dark-girl-faith-sidle, AnMaDeRoNi, lola laflaunda, Isabell89, Rissa545, and icklebitodd. You guys are the best. This is for you…and me…but mostly for you.


Headliner

Chapter 3

"Catherine Willows, it's a good thing you're a C.S.I. That way, when I keel over, they don't have to send anyone extra to process the scene," Sara said between breaths.

Catherine reached in the center console and lifted out a napkin. "Did you think you were more mysterious than that?"

Sara shook her head. "What on earth makes you think she's Nick's kid?"

"Come on, Sara. She looks just like him. You can't tell me you don't look into her eyes and see him staring back at you."

Sara took another sip of her coffee. "Is it really that obvious?"

"To me? Yes. You do have to remember, though, that I'm a mother. We have special intuition as I'm sure you know."

She nodded. "Don't tell anyone, okay. I want to tell him before anyone else knows."

"You got it. Sara, how did this happen?"

"I was in college at Harvard and I took a little vacation. A friend of mine had told me Texas was a nice place to visit, so I did. I was just walking down the street when this man tried to come on to me. I told him to get lost, but he didn't leave. I took off running. He followed me of course. Up ahead I saw a guy walking. He seemed normal enough. I got to his side all out of breath. He asked me what was wrong and I told him about the guy. He agreed to pretend he was my boyfriend to get this guy to leave me alone. He took my arm and we walked through all of these back roads. It was an hour before we were convinced we'd lost him. I thanked the man for all his trouble and he offered to buy me dinner. Told me his name was Nick. I agreed. When we were finished, I got all ready to go to my hotel room, but he wouldn't let me go alone, so we walked together. We got to the door and he kissed me. You can guess what happened next."

Catherine laughed. "Yes, that I can. Go on."

She took a deep breath and another drink. "I woke up in the morning and he was gone. There was a note on the pillow next to me. It had a phone number on it and an invitation to call him if I ever needed anything."

"Don't you think having his kid constitutes as 'anything'?"

"You have to understand this, Catherine. I was twenty-one-years-old. I really didn't know him. I didn't want to risk telling him about the baby and having him run off. I don't think I could've handled it."

"You know he wouldn't have left you."

"I know that now, but I didn't know it then. Anyway, I figured I could just go on with my life. I finished school and Alexis and I moved to California. We stayed there for almost ten years. Everything was fine. Then Holly Gribbs got shot and Grissom called me here. As soon as I saw Nick, I knew it was him. You never forget the father of your child."

Catherine nodded. "No kidding. Why didn't you tell him then?"

"He didn't remember me. What should I have said? Hey, remember me? We slept together one time ten years ago. Guess what? I had a kid! It's yours. Somehow I don't think that would've gone over very well. Plus, I still didn't know him very well. I was hesitant to say anything. It wasn't just me anymore. I had a living breathing ten-year-old who would've been heartbroken to find out she had a father who just didn't want her."

"Nick wouldn't have done that."

"I know Catherine, but I didn't know then."

"That's all fine and dandy, Sara, but you've had six years to tell the man he has a kid."

"I didn't know how to do it. We were friends; I didn't want to ruin that by suddenly dropping a kid in his lap."

"All this time and no one knew you had a kid."

"Actually," Sara said, "there is one other person who knew."

"Who?"

"Lindsey."

"My Lindsey?"

"She called my house one day looking for you and I wasn't the one who answered the phone. I swore her to secrecy. As far as I know, she and Lexi have kept in touch."

"I never expected that."

"Sorry."

"Sooner or later Nick's going to pick up on the resemblance between him and Alexis. Either that or Greg will and we all know how well he can keep his mouth shut."

"I'm going to tell him, Catherine." In her head she added eventually.


They returned to the lab where Greg was still badgering Lexi.

"What's your favorite color?"

"Blue."

"What's your favorite animal?"

"Dog."

"Who is your best friend?"

"Courtney."

"Has your mother ever been married?"

This time the voice that answered wasn't Alexis. "No." It was Sara. "Come on, Lex, it's time to go. Say good-bye to Greg."

"Bye, Greg."

"Bye, Lexi. See you later."

"How was your day?" Sara asked.

"Let's just say if I ever commit a crime and need to give short answers, I've had all the practice. Is Greg always like that?"

"No, sometimes he dresses up in funny costumes."

"That'll be something to see."

"You bet."


The next weekend brought on another visit to the lab for Lexi. She grabbed every chance she got. She had missed out on six years of knowing these people and wanted to get every second back. Sara still hadn't mentioned to Nick the fact that he was related to the girl. She wasn't sure how to start up that conversation.

She sat at a table watching the others interact with her daughter. Greg wasn't speaking, but kept looking from Alexis to Nick over and over. Sara thought she'd chew right through the wood. The wheels were turning in his brain and that couldn't lead to anything good.

Sara had just picked up trace results from Hodges when Greg got a hold of her. "You know, Sara, Lexi has very unique eyes. I would call them Hershey chocolate brown. Nice and rich. Maybe even dark chocolate. Did you ever notice that?"

"Sure, Greg. My daughter has candy bar eyes. Is this all you wanted?"

"Oh, no. It's curious that her middle name is Nicole."

She stopped short. "What are you getting at, Greg?"

"See, both of these things are very much in common with a certain friend of ours. You may have heard of him. He goes by the name of Nick Stokes. His eyes are quite chocolatey also."

"Don't you dare tell him that you think that!"

"So he is her dad."

She couldn't hide it from him any longer. "Yes, Greg, he is. I haven't told him yet, so you have to swear to me you won't say anything. I mean it, Greg."

He crossed his heart with his finger. "I swear."

As it happened, Greg was not very good at keeping his secret. He found Nick glancing over a DNA printout. "Nick, I have a very important question for you."

"Shoot," the man said.

"Okay, has anyone ever told you that you have Hershey candy bar eyes?"Nick stared at Greg like he had three heads. They heard Sara's voice down the hall. Greg moved to the door. "Nick, we never had this conversation okay? Don't tell her I asked you this!" He ran out.

"What was that all about?" Sara asked.

"Oh he just asked me if anyone had ever told me my eyes were like candy bars. And then he said not to tell you."

"Greg!" she yelled and dashed out. Nick shook his head and laughed.

By the end of the day, every one of the night shift members knew that Nick was Alexis's father. Every person that is, except Grissom and Nick. Sara figured she had no choice but to tell him today. Greg couldn't keep it in any longer. He'd already told Warrick. No, she needed to do it right away. Everyone was in the break room. Greg was forcing Lexi to drink more of his coffee, hoping she'd change her mind. "Nick, can I speak to you for a moment?"

With a puzzled look on his face, he followed her out into the hallway. No one was around so she decided to spill. "Look, I have something really important I have to tell you. You may not believe me, but I swear it's true."

He touched her shoulder. "Sara, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I just have something to tell you that I should have many years ago. Nick," she squeezed her eyes shut, "Nick, you are Alexis's father." She heard a thud.

He was flat on the ground.