Author's Note: Now I'm going to start speeding things up. Thanks to everybody who's reviewed so far. We're almost through the angst, people! Hang in there! Oddly enough, this chapter is that fluffy kind of angst.

This is the second chapter of our deal, bauerfreak!

To Allie: A few chapters ago, I asked what TPTB meant, so I get it now. :P Just a bit more angst, and then hardcore fluff until the end. Thanks for the review.

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I write FanFiction because I am a FAN. Not an OWNER.

Nick slammed his locker door shut at the end of shift and plopped down on the bench, hard. He hung his head in his hands. It had been three weeks since they'd found out about the miscarriage, and they were both taking it really hard. Sara was taking it in a much different way from Nick, though. She blamed herself for it. Nick tried and tried to reassure her that it was definitely not her fault, but she said that the night they went out drinking before they'd found out she was pregnant killed the baby, or that she must have done something wrong. He didn't understand why she didn't see that it wasn't her fault, and he would have given anything for her to understand.

Warrick entered the room and noticed Nick. Catherine, with the Stokes' permission, had told the team that Sara had miscarried. It was too painful for either one of them to talk about it much. Warrick saw Nick and his shoulders slumped. He knew how hard this was on them. "Is it about Sara?" he asked gently, sitting down next to Nick.

Nick rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Yeah," he said, nodding slightly.

"Want to talk about it?"

Nick contemplated for a moment. "It's just that…" he tried to find the right words. "She blames herself for what happened, and I don't know what to do to make her understand that it's not her fault and that I'm not mad at her or anything. It breaks my heart to see her heartbroken. She doesn't talk to me very much anymore. She doesn't really talk to anyone anymore, actually. She's just so…withdrawn. Almost like when I'm with her, she's just an empty shell. I don't know what I should do," he confided.

Warrick absorbed this for a moment, forming the sentences in his head. "Want my advice?" Nick nodded. "Do something that shows her that you really love her, without forcing her to talk. Just be with her."

Nick furrowed his brow. "Yeah…that's a good idea. Thanks, Rick."

"Anytime."

Nick drove him in his Denali. Sara had been taking a lot of time off lately, and tonight she was at home, probably eating some Ben and Jerry's right out of the carton with a spoon and watching a chick flick, he reasoned. He wasn't condemning her for that at all, though. She had every right, and he was formulating his plan as he was driving. If she was sitting on the couch, that would make his plan all the easier. He stopped at a flower store, amazed that you could find one that was open twenty-four hours in Vegas. He picked up a few lilies and white roses for her, and then went to a grocery store to pick up some more Ben and Jerry's. He knew they'd be almost out.

When he arrived at home, he found Sara sitting under an afghan, cross-legged, exactly as he'd predicted.

"Hi," she said quietly, spoon in her mouth.

"Hi, sweetheart," he said, smiling. He handed her the flowers and smiled at her. "I love you, Sara Stokes," he said.

She smiled a sweet, melancholy smile. "I love you too, Nicholas Stokes. Thank you," she said, as he handed her the pint of Ben and Jerry's he'd picked up. She wasted no time popping the cap off and digging right in.

Nick sat down on the end of the couch. "Put your feet up," he said, patting his thigh. She complied, turning herself around. He pulled her socks off and started rubbing her feet.

She just closed her eyes. "Oh, that feels so good, Nick."

They continued half-watching Ever After as he rubbed her feet and she almost forgot the pint of ice cream she had until she stopped being able to feel her hand. She started taking small spoonfuls and eating them slowly, reaching over every so often to feed one to Nick.

They continued like that until Ever After was over, and Sara was crying from it. She thought maybe she was PMSing, since that movie usually didn't make her cry. He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "I love you, baby," he said.

Her face fell, and Nick mentally slapped himself for calling her 'baby'. He tried to correct himself. "Sara, I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"Nick, Nick," she interrupted. "It's okay. I know you didn't mean that," she said, but sadness was still evident in her voice.

He decided to venture into what he knew was dangerous territory. "It's not your fault, honey."

She looked as though she was on the verge of tears. "I can't help but think that it is," she said timidly, not meeting his eyes and instead focussing on a forensic journal on the table.

"Sara, look at me." She did, and he took her chin in his hand. "It is not your fault."

Her façade was broken and the tears began to fall silently from her eyes as she sat up and leaned against him, arms around his neck. Although it broke his heart to see the pain he caused her, he was doing backflips inside that she was coming back to him.

"Sara," he said gently, after she was done crying, "Do you want to try again sometime?"

If he'd asked her a week ago, she would have said something like, "Never again." But now, after his simple gestures, she couldn't even fathom not having children with him. He was so obviously her soul mate, and she couldn't bear the idea of them not having kids. She thought for what seemed like an eternity, and answered, "Yes. But not yet."

He completely understood that she didn't want to go through that again so soon. "Sure," he whispered, kissing her forehead and holding her until she fell asleep.

The next day, Sara decided to come to work. She wasn't looking forward to talking to everybody about this, but thankfully, they'd all gotten the message from Nick that it was a sensitive subject and not to bring it up. Warrick and Catherine were the only ones that Nick could talk to about it even remotely comfortably, and Sara could hardly stand to talk to it about Nick, much less anybody else.

She couldn't help but notice that everybody was acting a little weird around her, kind of like being with somebody you don't really know all that well and so you talk about the weather all the time. She shrugged it off and made her way to the DNA lab to get some results.

At home, Nick and Sara were eating cheese enchiladas and watching an episode of Forensic Files. Finally, Sara blurted out what had been on her mind all day.

"I want to have a baby with you," she said.

Nick was surprised. He wanted to have a baby with her too, but he was planning on waiting until she was ready, which he thought wouldn't be for quite a while. "O-okay," he stuttered. Still a bit unsure, he asked, "Now? I mean, soon?"

"Like right now," she answered.

"Sara…are you sure?"

"Definitely."

That was all it took. He came around the table and picked her up, kissing her as he carried her to the bedroom.

Two Weeks Later

Sara had never been more nervous in her life. She held the pregnancy test in her hand, not sure whether she wanted to look at it yet. Nick was waiting in the living room, fidgeting like mad. Sara came out, and Nick raised his eyebrows expectantly.

"I can't look at it," she said, half in defeat, half in uncertainty. "If I am pregnant…is that okay?"

"Of course it is," Nick said reassuringly. "It's kind of all we've been trying to do for the last two weeks."

She took a deep breath. "Okay…" she said, still a bit unsure.

He stood up and walked over to her, taking her hands in his. "No matter what it says, I love you, okay?"

"Okay."

She walked back into the bathroom and picked up the test.

Author's Note: Okay, this whole trying for a new baby thing. I had two choices right after he asked her if she wanted to try again: yes and no. Yes was less plausible, but no meant even more angst. And, quite frankly, I think we're all a little tired of angst. So I made my decision, and that's that. I know I left you hanging there a bit...Please review!