A/N: Alright, this chapter goes out to sandersfox, because she put my story ahead of her boyfriend. That's classic. The rest of my reviewers, you rock!


Headliner

Chapter 15

The drive to the large home of Bill and Jillian Stokes was quiet. Both adults had smiled brightly at the sight of their granddaughter, but frowned quickly when their gazes came upon Sara. Sara sat in between Lexi and Nick, not wanting to be too far from either one. The car bounced down the familiar dirt road and Lexi couldn't help but grin. She really had enjoyed her time there.

As Nick had requested, Sara and Lexi were put into the same room, with him just across the hall. Sara stayed with her to collect her thoughts, while Nick went downstairs. He entered the kitchen and ran into his brother, Darren.

"Hey, D, what's up?"

"Welcome back, Nicky. It's good to see you so soon again. And that girl of yours too. She's something."

"Thanks. She wouldn't be this great without her mother of course."

"When are you two getting hitched?"

"Excuse me?" asked Nick.

"Yeah, Hutch and Ace have been walking around talking about how this visit is just to let all of us know when you are marrying this Sara woman."

Nick's brows slid downward. "Oh they have, have they? I think I'll go find them and have a little chat. Do you know where these nieces of mine are?"

"The stables I think. Ace was talking about getting the horses ready for when Lexi wanted to ride."

"Thanks Darren, and please try to keep this rumor under wraps. Or at least spread the word that we aren't getting married."

"You got it, bro."

Nick slid through the back door and walked down the stone path to the stables. One of his nieces sat on the fence. She smiled as he approached, but quickly jumped off when she saw the expression on his face. Good, he thought, at least she knows what she's done. He lifted the metal lock with his fingers and moved into the ring. Both girls stood next to one of the horses. "Ladies, how are you doing?"

"We're great, Uncle Nick; how are you?" one of them said.

"I was doing just fine until a few minutes ago. Some of our family members have been saying that the Hutchins girls have been spreading a rumor about Sara and I. You two wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?"

Kaitlyn "Hutch" Hutchins made the dirt swirl around with the toe of her boot. "We were just talking to each other, Uncle Nick."

"Then how is it that Darren knows about it?" Nick asked, stealing a brush from the shelf.

"We might not have been talking all that quietly," Katie's twin, Linley "Ace" Hutchins, answered.

"Where exactly did this conversation happen?"

"The car on the ride over," said Katie.

"So your parents know too. Alright, kids, listen up. Sara and I are not getting married. We work together; we're friends; we happen to have a kid. That's it. She's here to meet the family because she's Lexi's mom, not because we're getting married. Got it?"

"Yes," both girls mumbled.

"Spread it around," he said and waved his hands, motioning for them to leave. He shook his head. It was really hard for him to be angry at them. He began to brush the horse. A few minutes later, he heard the crunching of shoes on the rocks. He flashed a big Texas smile to the person walking up. It was Sara. "Hey, how's it going?"

"Pretty good. Lexi found Hutch and Ace, I ran into your brother, and came out here. How'd they get their nicknames anyway?"

Nick laughed. "Linley is an ace at sports, hence the nickname. Kaitlyn is either Katie or Hutch. Their last name is Hutchins. They've had those nicknames forever. Anyway, did my brother behave?"

"Yeah. He just told me that I'd raised a great kid."

"That's good, but it's no more than I expected. I knew he'd be the easiest one to impress. The hardest to sway will be my parents. Probably my dad is the worst. After them it'll be Leslie. At least you have one vote for you."

"Vote?" she inquired.

"Whenever I bring a girl home, which isn't very often," he added at Sara's raised brow, "my family has this little ritual. At the beginning of the trip, they'll tell me to take her out, usually on them. Then they have a meeting to decide if she's up to par. They do it again at the end of the trip to reassess. I discovered this one night when I came home earlier than they expected."

"Sounds like a tough system," Sara said.

"It can be, but I'll have to admit that it has saved me from quite a few idiots in my time."


That evening brought on a large family barbecue. Thirty-seven people gathered around wooden picnic tables covered with checkered cloths. An abundance of meats were scattered amongst the crowd. Breads and salads sat at the ends of the table. Sara noticed the strange looks she received as she passed on all of the meat. She couldn't help it that a pig experiment had left her meat appetite nonexistent. She made a mental note to blame Grissom for any trouble that came of her vegetarian diet.

After the meal, the adults sat around to chat while the kids ran around. Justine and Hailey hoped that the older kids would tire theirs out. Between the two of them, they had four kids who were all under seven years old. Lexi found herself in a tree house on the edge of the property with seven of her cousins.

The house had two rooms. They all gathered in the largest one and sat on cushions that lined the walls. A radio was playing for background music and a bowl of popcorn was passed from teen to teen. "So," asked Shelbie, one of Darren's daughters, "what's the deal between your mom and your dad?"

Lexi grabbed a handful of popcorn. "I don't know. Nothing's really 'the deal.' We all live together and everything. I kind of made sure that happened. They go to work and take care of me. That's all there is to it."

"No romantic interest between them?" asked Kayla, Nick's sister Camille's daughter.

"Not that I can see. They've been friends for a really long time, as long as I've lived in Vegas."

"Do you want them to get together?" asked Katie.

"I think it would be cool. Actually, having my parents married would be awesome. I've only wanted it for my whole life."

"What are you guys going to do while you're in Texas?" Ace asked.

"Tomorrow Nick has to take my mom out to dinner and," a series of "oohs" interrupted her. "What?"

"The dreaded family meeting," Shelbie explained. "The adults all get together and talk about whether or not to add your mom to the Christmas card list. They tell us to stay clear, but we always eavesdrop. It could be fun."

"Let's do it," her sister Tara said. "Come on, we better get a move on before Dillon blows the cover on what we're doing." They each took one last handful of popcorn and skedaddled down the tree.

Ace threw her arm around Lexi's shoulder. "Don't freak about this meeting, Lex. It's not really a big deal."

"I hope not," Lexi whispered under her breath. Would her mom be welcome anymore after tomorrow? She just had to wait and find out.


A/N2: I know that I took forever (2 days?) to update this, but I had to study for finals. Then I went to my friends' graduation. I should be on a regular schedule soon. Let me know what you thought. P.S. CSIfan4life, thanks for reading my "Fly in my Soup" story too. You're awesome.