Author's Note: Have I mentioned that you guys rock? Well, in case I didn't, there. I said it. You rock. All of you.
To JJ: Glad you liked it, and thanks for reviewing.
To MollyMKS: Yeah, hell has totally frozen over if Sara can't work! Nick is back to being his sweet old self. Gotta love him. Thanks for reviewing!
To heartagram: Why, thank ya, darling. Thanks for reviewing!
To jd: Whoa, suggestion central! Perhaps I shall use a few of those…Thanks for reviewing!
To norma: Knowing him, he probably will. Haha. Thanks for reviewing!
To CSI-wanna-be23: Ooh, now I've got you interested…haha. Thanks for reviewing!
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: Nick is mine, but he's not mine. Kapiche?
"So, these are all the names I've found that I like," Nick said, holding up his notepad and reading off of it. "Anthony, Daniel, Brent, Jordan, Caleb, and George."
"Those are all boys' names. We might be having girls too. And who would want to name their son George?" Sara asked.
"I like that name," Nick defended. "It's a strong name, and I don't see anything wrong with it."
"Whatever," Sara said, going back to her own list.
A look of realization crossed his face. "We might be having girls too? Are you hinting at something, Sar?"
She looked up, knowing he'd caught her. "Maybe," she said, as her cheeks reddened.
Nick immediately flipped to the girls' section of his book and started picking through. "Well, we've already thought about the name Ciara, right?"
"We're still thinking about it? I thought we'd decided for sure," Sara said.
"Oh, well, yeah, that's what I meant. Should that be her first name or middle name?" he asked.
"I don't know, let's see what else we can find and then decide which way it fits better," she suggested.
He pointed the pen at her. "Good thinking. You're the brains of this operation."
"I could have told you that," she joked, looking back down at her book. "I like the name Anthony too. How about that?"
"Sure," he said. "Now what should it be for the middle name?"
"How about Nicholas?" she asked.
He looked up hopefully. "Really?" he asked excitedly.
"Yeah, really," she said.
"Anthony Nicholas Stokes," he said, trying it out. "I like that a lot."
"Me too," she said. "So, Anthony Nicholas Stokes?"
"Anthony Nicholas Stokes," he confirmed.
Sara wrote it down in her notebook and underlined it. "We still need two boys' names and two girls' names," she said.
"You know, this would be a lot easier if you just told me what they are," Nick pointed out.
"What and miss out on name-hunting time with you?" she teased. "Come on, let's choose a girl's name next."
"Okay, so Ciara for sure," Nick said. "How about Sara for a middle name?"
"No, definitely not," Sara said without hesitating. "Ciara Sara? How awful is that?"
He laughed a bit. "I guess you're right," he admitted. "What's your middle name again? Elizabeth?"
She nodded. "But 'Ciara Elizabeth' doesn't exactly roll off the tongue," she said. "The vowels don't work. It doesn't work in my name either, but whatever. I didn't name me."
"I know one of the boys' names we've picked already has my name in it, but we could use another one of my family names," Nick suggested.
"Shoot," Sara said.
"Ciara Michele," he proposed.
"Ooh! I like that!" Sara squealed. Nick looked awfully pleased with himself as Sara wrote down the name in her notebook. "So, we have Anthony Nicholas and Ciara Michele. Two down, two to go."
"Only two?" Nick asked, catching on to something. "So…Ciara Michele is one we're actually going to use? I'm getting a daughter?"
Sara turned red, knowing she'd been caught. "Yes," she gave in.
"Really?" Nick asked, a grin spreading across his face that rivalled the Grand Canyon. "I'm getting my own little girl? Really?"
Sara laughed, sensing a repeat of when he'd found out they were having a boy. "Yes, Nick. Now calm down before you hyperventilate."
"Too late," Nick said. He was grinning like a blithering idiot, and probably could have died of happiness right then and there. "I'm getting a daughter! My very own little girl! Oh, Michele will just go crazy when she hears this. I'm going to be the best daddy ever! I'm going to teach her to swim, and teach her to play chess, and help her with her homework, and-"
"Nick, stop!" Sara cut him off, laughing by now. "I know you'll be a great dad. But just remember that she's not the only one, okay?"
"I have no idea how I'm going to not die of happiness," Nick admitted. "I'm gonna get three kids all in one day!"
"Boy, you are hyper," Sara said.
"Please, please, please tell me what the other one is? PLEASE?" he begged.
"You're such a kid," she said. "Fine! Alright! Dr. Holmes isn't sure, but she thinks it's a girl."
Nick was quiet for a minute as he gazed down at Sara's stomach. For the first time in an hour, he had nothing to say. Finally, when he looked up, he had tears in his eyes. "I don't think I've ever been happier in my life," he said. "I just can't believe we're doing this."
Sara was overcome with a mixture of anxiety, joy, fear, and hope. "Nick…are we ready for this?"
He looked at her for a second. Reaching out and taking her hand, he said, "If they're half you and half me, we have nothing to worry about."
She smiled at him and he touched her face softly. He leaned in and placed a soft, loving kiss on her lips. She returned it, and they traded slow, lazy kisses for a while until the doorbell rang. Between kisses, Nick mumbled out, "That'll be…Warrick…I invited him…over for…a barbeque…I forgot to…tell you…sorry…" Every few of his words were interrupted by a kiss. Finally, he managed to stand up and walk to the door. Sara stayed sitting on the floor, gathering up their notepads and books. Nick came back into the room with Warrick in tow. Sara tried to get up, but fell backwards down onto the floor.
"Damn! Why do I have to be so fat?" Sara whined. Warrick came over to her and offered his hand to her.
"You're not fat, you're pregnant," he said. "It's not the same thing," he reassured.
"Either way, I still can't get up on my own," Sara grumbled as she took his hand and allowed him to pull her up.
With an exaggerated "Oof!" he pulled her up.
"Oh, thanks a lot, Warrick," she said sarcastically. "Whatever happened to 'You're not fat, you're pregnant'?"
"I stand by what I said," he defended. "You're not fat, you're pregnant."
"Now I remember why I missed you so much when we were in Texas," she joked.
"Hey, um, I'm going to get those burgers on the grill. You want a veggie burger, Sara?"
"Yes, please," she said.
He nodded and reached into the freezer, pulling out some patties and getting a veggie burger ready. He took them outside and put them on a grill, but not before grabbing an old, beat-up apron that said, "Don't mess with Texas" on the front of it.
She groaned when she saw the apron. "Do you own anything that isn't Texas-related?"
"Not a thing," he replied, flashing her his heart-stopping smile as he stepped outside and closed the sliding door.
Sara turned to Warrick. "I hate that apron," she explained.
"I could tell," he said. "So, how are you?"
"I'm just exhausted all the time lately," she said. "Holding up, though."
"Wow. I have no idea how you'd do that. I probably couldn't," Warrick said, impressed.
"Which is why men can't get pregnant," Sara jabbed.
"Thank God for that," he said.
"You want to go outside?" she asked, pointing through the window at a patio set on the deck.
"Sure," he said.
They went outside and sat down at the patio set and the three talked while Nick cooked. During a lull in the conversation, Sara leaned her head back and said, "Oh, what I wouldn't give for a good stiff drink right now."
"I know a really good recipe for a drink. Normally, it has alcohol in it, but it still tastes amazing without it," Warrick piped up. "And it's really easy to make, too. I bet you have the stuff lying around in your kitchen."
"Are you offering?" Sara asked hopefully.
"Sure," Warrick said. "Just give me access to your kitchen."
"Our house is your house," Sara said, gesturing towards the kitchen with her hand. He stood up and entered the house.
About five minutes later, he came back out with three colourful drinks in hand. "I was right," he said. "You did have all the stuff." He handed one to Sara and one to Nick, raising his own glass. "Cheers," he said, as he knocked it back. They followed suit and Sara looked at her empty glass in wonderment.
"You're right, that is amazing!" she exclaimed.
He laughed. "Told you."
"Okay, burgers are ready," Nick said, as he carried over the plate with the patties on them. Sara reached over and took her veggie burger, and Warrick grabbed the one closest him as well. They prepared them the way they liked them, Nick's with only mustard, Warrick's with ketchup, mustard, relish, Dijon, pickles, onions, barbeque sauce, and Cheez Whiz, and Sara's with mustard, relish, onions, and Dijon.
"Do you think you can fit anything else on there, Warrick?" Nick teased.
"Come to think of it, do you have any mayonnaise?"
"Ummm…yeah…Sara, did you get some?" Nick asked. She'd set the table.
She surveyed the table for a minute, and when she found her efforts to be fruitless, she said, "I could have sworn I put some around here somewhere…"
"Never mind, I'll go check the kitchen," Nick said, quickly getting up and returning seconds later with the mayonnaise in hand. "Found it."
"That's odd…I've never forgotten mayonnaise before, and neither of us even use it," Sara said absentmindedly.
"Don't worry about it," Warrick said. He squirted some from the squeeze bottle onto his burger, closed it up and took a big bite.
They ate until they were finished, then stayed talking where they were until the sun had long since gone down, and while the conversation remained merry, Sara was somewhat disconcerted that she'd forgotten such a simple thing…
Author's Note: Alrighty then, there you have it. I still have yet to reveal the other names, but if you review, I might be tempted to update sooner.