Author's Note: I want to thank absolutely everybody who's reading this far. Last night, I stayed up until 7 AM and then I fell asleep for a few hours. When I woke up, I had six new emails! Six! I could have died and gone to heaven right there. But then I wouldn't have been able to finish the story. Which would suck. I honestly have no idea how long this thing is going to be, but I can promise you all that it's not ending anytime soon…

The 'secret language' mentioned in here is actually something my sister and I use. Translations are at the end of the phrases.

I don't know if they had sonogram 35 years ago, but let's pretend they did. Work with me.

To jd: Firstly, thanks for the review. I really wanted to show that Nick could be vulnerable, and you'll see a contrast now with him and his father in this chapter. I'm trying with this whole pregnancy thing, but like I said, I'm no expert. Bear with me, will you everybody?

To MollyMKS: I was totally hoping that someone would review that. By the way, the case I mentioned I was modeling it after? Well, I didn't. Just the shooting range part. In the actual case, this guy took his girlfriend to a shooting range because he wanted to get GSR on her hands so he could stage a suicide. She didn't fire it, but he killed her anyway. He got caught. I can totally see the flashback too, that would be…interesting, to say the least. Thanks for the review.

To Allie: You know you always get review responses! You never have to ask. I love "Going to Texas" stories too. I know! It should definitely be now. Not 45. But that's somewhat okay, because it still gives me 14 years to win George Eads over. I was actually a GSR fan before, but I was pulled over to the Snickers side very quickly by this website. No worries, though. I'm definitely not going back to GSR. I am now disgusted by it. I'm not really sure what you mean by "What did they say at the end of the episode?" If you're asking about the ending, (Severe Spoiler Warning) it was the guidance counsellor, and Grissom said something like, "As bad as high school can be, eventually it's over. But too soon for Barry Shickle." I think.

Spoilers: None that you haven't already encountered.

Disclaimer: I don't own it, I didn't create it, and I want George desperately. But you already knew that.

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The plane ride was uneventful. When they landed in Dallas, Sara was hit with a different kind of heat than they had in Las Vegas. It was more humid, so the air seemed heavier.

Nick pulled a surprise out of his bag, once they'd claimed their luggage. It was a Stetson.

Sara groaned. "That's such a terrible cliché," she whined.

"Admit it, Sidle, you like it," he goaded.

"You know I do," she said bluntly. "There's just something about a man in a cowboy hat."

"Okay, I changed my mind. We have to fly back to Vegas right away. If you like guys in cowboy hats, I'm doomed. I'll have no fiancée by the time we get back."

She laughed. "Trust me, Cowboy, there's nobody I'd rather be with than you," she said, leaning up to kiss him.

"That's good," he mumbled, returning the kiss. "We should go meet my mom. She's coming to pick us up."

Nick was a bit nervous. He'd told his family that he was bringing Sara home, but not that they were engaged. All they knew was that he and Sara were friends.

They wheeled their baggage to the huge revolving doors and Sara knew instantly that there were more people there than his mom. She was greeted by six women and one man, all redheads. Instantly, Sara felt sick. Oh, no, not now baby, not now. I love you, but you can't make me throw up now. She knew she was going to lose it. "Nick, I have to go to the bathroom now."

He understood immediately. "Go."

She needed no encouragement. She only made it around the corner out of sight before throwing up into the nearest garbage can. When she returned, Jillian, Nick's mother, gave her a suspicious glance, but it melted when they were formally introduced.

Nick stepped in and introduced her to everybody else. "Everybody, this is Sara. Sara, this is my brother Ethan, this is Michele, Isabella, Flora, Silo, and Stephanie."

She was thrown through a loop with all the hugs she was getting. Sara hadn't been big on hugging until she met Nick. Now it was all she wanted to do with him, among other things. She heard some strange jabbering coming from Nick and Michele. It was full of Gs and Ds.

"Idagis shedagee predagegnadagant (Is she pregnant)?" Michele asked Nick. She'd figured it out very quickly that they had a relationship, and the ring on Sara's finger was a dead giveaway.

"Wowdagow, youdagoo dodagon't midagiss adaga thidaging (Wow, you don't miss a thing)," Nick said. Even though Sara couldn't understand what they were saying, Sara could detect some sarcasm in his voice. Michele beamed at whatever it was he'd said to her.

Jillian piped up, "None of that, guys. I've been telling you that for years. It's rude to keep people out of your conversations." Nobody in the family had ever been able to figure the language out.

Nick glanced at Michele in defeat. She returned the glance. They both shrugged at the same time, and Sara instantly saw the same mannerism in Michele that she'd seen numerous times in Nick over the years. They looked so much alike, Michele could have been a female version of Nick. She, like Nick, had a strong jaw, but it was a little less well-defined. Mostly what Sara noticed was her ears. She had exactly the same ears as Nick. The major difference was that Michele was a redhead.

"Just how many cars did you bring?" Nick asked.

Jillian replied, "We brought three. The station wagon and the silver sedan and Michele drove her Mustang."

"Who's riding with whom?" Nick asked. Sara was glad that he was doing all the talking. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth, she'd puke again, plus she was really nervous around new people, something she'd always been able to hide but was now floundering to do.

"Well, you guys will probably want to ride together. Want to go with Michele?" Jillian suggested.

Nick whispered something in her ear, and Sara hesitantly nodded, but looked sure of her decision.

"Before we go, we'd just like to make an announcement." He took Sara's hand before speaking again; similar to the way they'd done when telling the lab. "We're engaged."

Sara laughed at the reaction. All the women's hand flew to their mouths simultaneously. Gee, they're not related, she thought. They all let out high-pitched squeals and a couple of them flapped their hands excitedly.

"It's about time Nick fell in love!" Silo exclaimed, which made Nick turn red.

"And we have one more announcement," Sara continued. She glanced up at Nick, making sure it was okay. Everybody was waiting expectantly.

"It's up to you," he whispered. She smiled. Now she was sure.

"I'm pregnant."

Picture the reaction to the engagement news times ten.

Finally, they decided that Sara and Nick would ride with Michele, and they left before anybody else finished making their arrangements.

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Michele was driving her convertible and Sara sat in the front seat, Nick in the back.

Nick was trying to tune out the "girl talk" but eventually gave up and decided to listen in. He might learn something. He was glad they'd bonded so quickly, and was surprised that Sara would be talking about pregnancy with somebody she'd only met about half an hour ago. It didn't surprise him at all that Michele was talking about it; she'd always been very frank.

"So, how many kids do you have again?" Sara asked.

"Five," Michele answered. "Charlie, Michael, Duncan, Chad, and Madison."

Sara whistled. "Only one girl?"

"Yeah. Hey, did Nick ever tell you about his sonogram picture when he wasn't born yet?" She glanced mischievously in the rear-view mirror.

He groaned. "Aww, come on, Michele. Not that story," he pleaded.

Now Sara was interested. "Yes, Michele, that story. Do tell."

Michele ignored her brother's whining and said, "His first sonogram, the doctor said he was a girl. Apparently there wasn't much there to prove otherwise, if you get my drift." She winked.

Nick groaned. Now she'd done it. She was going to pay for that. "Michele, I'd be careful if I were you. I still have dirt on you that Mom and Cisco don't know about. Remember when you were in tenth grade?"

Her eyes flew wide open and she said, "You wouldn't!"

Nick nodded, satisfied he'd won. He was wrong.

She came back with, "I'm sure they'd be very interested to hear about your tenth grade year, too."

He pouted, knowing that he'd have to top that.

Sara was enjoying the playful banter. She glanced back at Nick and saw him thinking hard. Suddenly he grinned, and she knew he'd come up with something to trump her.

"March 14, 1989," was all he said. He looked very pleased with himself, but no matter what he said, Michele was always able to top it.

She retorted, "August 4, 1990."

He replied without missing a beat, "January 1, 1990. Or should I say December 31, 1989?" he added with a glint in his eye.

"You know what? You're being stupid," she said.

"You know what? You're being stupider," he said in a childish way.

"Smelly," she said.

"Blondie," he replied. Sara made a note to ask him about that later.

"Go jump in a lake."

"Go boil your head."

"Go suck a lemon."

"You know what? Psht."

They both grinned. It was a routine they'd had going on since they were teenagers.

Sara, wanting to change the subject, asked Michele, "So, what is the hardest thing about being pregnant?"

"Bluntly?"

Sara nodded.

"Being horny all the time," she said matter-of-factly as she did a shoulder-check to see who was coming as she changed lanes.

Sara turned bright red and Nick just grinned.

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They arrived at the Texas ranch shortly after. Nick unloaded the bags, a bit paranoid. Sara insisted that she could do it herself, but he didn't want her lifting anything heavy.

They walked in and Sara was greeted by a sinfully good smell. At least she would have thought it was sinfully good if she didn't feel like throwing up right then.

"Nick," she said, tugging at his shirt urgently. "Bathroom."

He took her arm and they half-ran to the nearest bathroom, barely managing to close the door behind them as she bent over the toilet, puking her guts out. He rubbed her back gently until she finished.

She was becoming less and less embarrassed each time Nick saw her throw up. At the same time, though, she was becoming more and more embarrassed. She didn't really know why, or how to explain it, but that's just the way it was. Maybe she was becoming less and less embarrassed because he showed that he cared for her so much each time. Maybe her embarrassment was getting worse because she was falling deeper and deeper in love with him.

When she finished, she wiped her mouth and Nick got her a glass of water. She gurgled. She was really going to have to remember to keep a bottle of water with her at all times. The throwing up wasn't exactly on a schedule, and she always wanted to be prepared.

He sat down on the floor, leaning against the bathtub. She leaned against the wall, perpendicular to him. They were quiet for a minute. What Sara didn't know was that Nick was equally as embarrassed to see her throw up. He felt like he was embarrassing her, and that embarrassed him. She finally looked up at him. "I love you," she said quietly.

"I love you too," he replied, taking her hand and smiling.

"Can we get married while we're down here?" she asked.

He was surprised. "You mean, within the next two weeks?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"If you want to," he said.

"I want to," she answered.

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, because I was going to ask you if we could."

"Good." She was quiet for a moment. "Let's get married next Saturday."

"Okay."

This was a very one-worded conversation, but they both liked it. It was strangely intimate.

Nick saw Sara's face contorted again as she pushed herself back over to the toilet and puked again.

"Like I said, you try being pregnant," Sara said.

He kissed her on the forehead. "No, I'll leave that to you," he joked.

She glared at him. If looks could kill, Sara would suddenly have the need to hide a body.

He held his hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely, and then kissed her on the forehead again.

When they came back from the bathroom, Michele shot them a suspicious glance.

"We were just having…a moment," Nick explained, not realizing how it sounded.

"Sure you were," Michele agreed skeptically, a smirk on her face.

"We actually were just having a moment," Sara confirmed.

Michele still looked dubious.

"If you must know, I was puking my guts out."

Now Michele understood. "Morning sickness," she said knowingly.

"You're telling me," Sara answered.

"But it's the afternoon," Nick said, confused.

"It's just called morning sickness, Nick. It doesn't always happen in the morning. I would think you'd know that," Sara explained.

Just then, a flood of redheads came through the door. Everybody else had arrived.

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Author's Note: Reviews make me one happy camper…of course, George would make me an entire happy campground.