Disclaimer: Here we go again. I don't own CSI or Gibbs or Mike Franks.
Previously on Who I Am:
"And who would that be?" Gibbs asked sarcastically over the phone while he looked over a file.
"An August Athena McCarty."
Chapter 9: Official and unexpected phone calls.
"Alright Peanut why don't you go up to your room and grab what you want to bring with you back to the house while I get some of the photos?" Nick asked her as he set her on her feet in the foyer.
"Okay Papa." Auggie said before she carefully made her way up the stairs and into her room. Nick watched her go up the stairs to make sure she didn't fall before Nick headed to the living room where Nick had spotted some baby pictures of Auggie on the mantle. Nick took a step closer to look at the pictures. Auggie truly was an adorable baby. Next to the baby pictures was the pictures of Auggie at ages one two and three. Nicky gently wrapped the pictures in newspaper and set them in the box that was at his feet.
He looked around the McCarty's home and saw there was a chest on the far side of the room. Nick carefully approached the trunk and opened it with the utmost care. Inside the wood chest Nick saw mostly baby clothes but also baby books and a few videos. Nick checked up the stairs to make sure that Auggie was still working on collecting her things before moving the trunk (thankfully the chest was fairly sized and just heavy enough for Nick to carry without any help.) to the back of his SUV and putting a spare blanket he had in the car so that Auggie could see it. Just as he got back inside his phone rang.
"Yeah, Stokes." Nick said into the receiver as he stepped back into the living room as he waited for Auggie to resurface from her old room.
"Mr. Stokes this Leroy Jethro Gibbs from NCIS. I've heard you've just adopted someone I know." A gruff voice said through the phone.
"And who would that be?" Nick asked unknowingly copying the earlier words from Gibbs. It's scary if this man says that he knows Auggie. The adoption was a closed one, so only the people he told and adoption agencies know that he adopted August McCarty.
"Auggie McCarty." Was the dreaded answer that he got.
"Wh…Who told you? How do you know her?" Nick was able to gasp out. Please someone tell him that this man wasn't going to take Auggie away from him.
"A Carol Stokes told and I'm a friend of her parents." That answer just pissed Nick off. His mother said she accepted Auggie and yet she did this to him? Try to rip them apart? That wasn't going to happen no way. He and his mother are going to have a talk.
"Mr. Gibbs I'm sorry I'm the one who has to tell you this but Mr. and Mrs. McCarty were murdered August 15th." Nick told him sadly as he leaned up against the wall and sliding down till his butt touched the floor.
"How were they murdered and who did it?" Gibbs finally asked after a few minutes of silence, his best friend and her husband is dead and his niece was adopted. His life was slowly going downhill.
"Mr. McCarty fought off his murderer before the killer had enough and shot him. Mrs. McCarty was found upstairs shot two times in the face. Sir… if it eases any of the pain at all Amy McCarty and her husband died saving their little girl." Nick told Gibbs as he gazed up at the stairs where Auggie was still located.
"You still didn't tell me who killed them. " Gibbs growled after Nick stopped talking. Nick gave a deep sigh, he had a feeling that Leroy Jethro Gibbs was a person that would go to hell and back to get revenge for his loved ones.
"How well did you know Mrs. McCarty's family?" Nick asked after a minute of thinking on how to approach the subject.
"Amy had a sister, Sam, who was two year older than her, married Carl Sanchez straight out of college." Gibbs informed him; Nick mentally groaned this was going to be harder than he thought. Just as he was about to answer he saw Auggie sliding down the stairs with her mini duffle bag set carefully in her lap.
"Mr. Gibbs is it if I call you later today? I have someone on the stairs who shouldn't hear in on this conversation." Nick requested of Gibbs, though somehow he knew he wasn't a patient man.
"Auggie's within hearing range isn't she?" Gibbs asked letting out a soft rumble.
"Yup." Nick answered watching Auggie to make sure that she didn't fall.
"Alright. Can you tell her that, that her Uncle Gibbs loves her and her Uncle Mike, Mike Franks, will be calling her soon. If that is okay with you?" Gibbs asked, something that he rarely did, he was mostly one to demand.
"Yeah, Yeah I can so that. I'll try to call you by 7 o' clock this evening if I can." Nick said before hanging up. Carefully as he could Nick got up from the floor and made his way over to Auggie and took that bag from her and led her to the car. After she was buckled up Nick backed out of the drive and started the drive back to the house.
"Uncle Gibbs said to tell you that he loves you and an Uncle Mike will be calling for you soon." Nick told her glancing in the mirror to see her eyes light up.
"Uncle Gibbs and Uncle Mike? They called?" Auggie asked bouncing slightly in her seat. Maybe having these fellows in her life might be a good thing.
"Well Uncle Gibbs called, he said that Uncle Mike will be calling soon. Hey, Peanut? Would it be alright if you hung out with Uncle Warrick for a few hours tonight?" he asked looking back at the four year old. Auggie's eye lit up at the thought of hanging out with her Uncle Warrick.
"Yeah!" Auggie said excitedly, Nick couldn't help but smile back at the little girl. As Nick pulled onto their street the CSI saw an unfamiliar car in his driveway. Carefully he pulled up and got out of the car to see a woman in her mid to late thirties in a pin stripe suit with a clip board.
"Can I help you ma'am?" Nick asked looking at the woman cautiously. The woman gave a reassuring smile and held out her badge for him to see.
"Yes, Mr. Stokes I'm Cael Porta. I talked on the phone with you yesterday about someone from Child Serves running over the trial period with you." Cael said, shaking Nick hand when she explained who she was to him.
"Sorry about that Ms. Porta in my line of work you tend to be cautious." Nick told her as he lifted Auggie out of the car and handing her bag filled with her goodies from her old house.
"It's alright Mr. Stokes, being someone who fights crime does tend to leave its marks." Cael said as she watched Nick unload a box filled with things wrapped in newspaper. He led the two ladies up the tow path and onto the front porch. Nick carefully juggled the box in one hand while he fetched the keys in the other and unlocked the door.
"Auggie, can you go put your bag of goodies in your room before you take a seat on the couch?" Nick asked Auggie once they were inside and Auggie's shoes were off.
"Okay Papa." Auggie said getting off the floor and grabbing her bag before heading towards her room in a steady trot.
"Walking!" Nick called after her, only to receive a giggle in reply. Nick shook his head in mirth and turned back to the social worker to see her smiling softly.
"I'm glad to see you and August bonded so quickly." Porta told him while writing something down on her clipboard.
"It's one of the things were all grateful for, my team I mean." Nick told her a soft smile appearing at the mention of him team. Cael turned her head to the side at the mention of his team.
"What does your family think about you adopting Auggie?" Cael asked glancing down the hallway where they could hear shuffling around in a room down the hall.
"My mother isn't too thrilled but aside from that I believe the rest of my family is usually very supportive. Though I consider my team at CSI my family with the work we do we become a very tight knit group." Nick answered half an ear out towards Auggie's room.
"How are you financially?"
"The crime lab pays very well. Here is my last paycheck." Nick told her handing over the right paperwork.
"My last question before looking around the house is… Why do you want to adopt August McCarty?" Cael asked, looking up from her clipboard to await her answer. Nick thought about it for a moment, gazing down the hall before looking her dead in the eye.
"I want to adopt August Athena McCarty because I love her like my own flesh and blood already and I won't let a soul hurt her. I certainly won't let her be thrown from foster home to foster home till she is eighteen. My wish is for her to happy. And I know she is truly here with me." He told her a fiery gleam in his eyes while he spoke. Cael actually had a huge smile on her face while she wrote down his response.
"Mr. Stokes I don't think that there will be a problem with you adopting August. Now I know that CSI are required to carry a gun and some have a second one at home in case of a home invasion or enemies on the loose. Do you have a second weapon and if you do where do you store it?" Porta asked while she stood up from her seat. Silently Nick led her through the house, pointing out the changes that were made for Auggie and what not.
"I have a number code safe that I put my gun in as soon as I get home from work in. The pass code will be changed once a week starting when I go back to work." Nick explained as he showed her the safe. Cael nodded and flipped closed her notebook and faced Nick.
"Congratulations Mr. Stokes you are August McCarty's legal guardian. The paperwork should be mailed to you in a week or two." Porta told him, holding out her hand in congratulations. Nick's smile grew large and his eyes a sparkle in them worthy of Albus Dumbledore.
"Thank you Ms. Porta. Is there any more paperwork I have to fill out for Auggie's god parents?" Nick asked as he led Cael to the door.
"No, sir just the section and their signatures on the sheet that you gave us. Have a nice evening Mr. Stokes." Cael said before heading out in the humid weather. Nick closed the door slowly and made his way down the hall to find what happened to his little girl. He checked her room first and found her asleep on bed with a bear in her grasp. The CSI decided to let her sleep in while he gave Warrick a call hoping his friend could watch her while he sorted things out with his mother. He gently set a Pooh blanket that was next to her over his girl before quietly moving out the room leaving the door open a crack incase Auggie needed him.
"Brown." Warrick said as he moved around his apartment.
"Hey bro it's Nick." Nick told him as he moved to the living room, over the phone he heard Warrick perk up at this voice.
"Nick! How did the interview go?" Warrick asked innocently but the question still made Nick run a hand through his brown hair.
"Good, good. You think you can take Auggie for a few hours I have to have a discussion with my mom and I don't want her here incase yelling breaks out." Nick explained to him as he paced the living room as quietly as possible.
"By incase yelling breaks out you mean there is going to be yelling." Warrick translated as he threw on some sweats since he was lounging about.
"Exactly, not something I want her to hear right now. Especially when I can't guarantee that there won't be any swear words involved." Nick told him hastily glancing down the hall at Auggie.
"What time do you want me to pick her up?" Warrick asked throwing on a baggy UNLV tee over his wife beater tank with a sweatshirt.
"You don't have to do that I can drop her off." Nick protested quietly though his heart wasn't into it. Warrick mentally rolled his eyes Nick was too stubborn for his own good.
"I can and I will now what time? I was thinking of taking her over to Grissom's for a little bit so they can bond and stuff." Warrick told him as he went looking over the apartment for his shoes.
"He's cooking for the team again isn't he?" Nick asked sad that he was missing a free dinner but not too sad since Gris usually slipped in a bug or two.
"Yup, what time Nicky?" Warrick asked sitting on the couch waiting for the Texan to answer his question.
"Uh in a few minutes if you could. I want this situation with my mother to be sorted out a.s.a.p. What she did was unacceptable and it needs to be dealt with if she is going to be in Auggie's life."
"Alright, anything else?" Warrick asked, he always seemed to know when there is something going on with Nick. Something the Texan was sometimes grateful for when it came to times like these, when there is too much going on at one time.
"Yeah, um a guy called Mike Franks I think Gibbs said his name was might be calling later to talk Auggie is it alright if I give him your number?" Nick asked hesitantly rubbing his neck nervously as he did.
"Yeah, man, it's alright I'll be there in twenty. Just walk in?" Warrick asked slipping on his shoes and going for his car keys, trying to remember where he placed them.
"Yeah, I'll see you in a few." Nick said before hanging up the phone and moving back to the bedroom. Auggie was still asleep which gave Nick an opportunity to grab a pair of semi decent sweats with a Marines Corps hoodie in case she got cold or something.
The father set the clothing in a small backpack near the door before heading towards the living room. Waking a four year old is not something he would do willing unless he had to. That is why he is leaving the waking to Warrick. He grinned at that thought though he knew that Warrick wouldn't be that happy. Nick was pulled out of his thoughts by someone calling his name.
A/N: And there you go my loyal readers and extra long chapter just for you. As you suggested I will be doing the first holidays and birthdays and from there I will be doing some of the episodes that I think will tie into the story, Give me some suggestions of an episode that you want to see in the story if you want and I will try to fit it in. Nick's Stalker will defiantly be making an appearance.