A/N: I know! It's been too long! I'm sorry! Life caught up to me! Buuut, I'm back I promise! Annnd to make up for being gone for so long I'm going to be posting two to three chapters tonight! Promise!
Disclaimer: I do not own CSI or NCIS -pouts-
Previously on Who I Am:
Nick spent most of the day going to shops getting the things he needed for the party since he knew he would be sleeping for most of the day tomorrow. Though he did make a stop to the Rite Aid near his house so he could get a few pictures developed of Auggie to give to the team, Doc Robbins and Brass if they wanted one.
Thursday, September 6th, 2000, 3:00 p.m.
"Papa!" Auggie shouted, as she hopped off the bus and down the drive, into her Papa's arms. Nick gave a smile and a laugh as he twirled Auggie around before bending down and picking up the abandoned backpack on the ground.
"Hey, Peanut, how was school?" he asked as he walked them up the drive and into the house where he had Auggie take her shoes off.
"Great! Mrs. Sailtor said that we could play all we wanted and was allowed to color!" Auggie said going on about her day as Nick pulled things out of her backpack that he needed to sign. Nick smiled when he saw what Auggie had drawn. It was stick figures of him and the rest of the family along with who he would guess was Mike Franks and Jethro Gibbs.
"This is amazing Auggie! Hey, you think you can get your bag together to go to Sandra's?" Nick asked her gently as he scoungered around for a pen to sign the paper's she needed for the slips she brought home.
"Okay, Papa, can I bring Bunny Bear?" Auggie asked innocently, referring to her teal colored bear with a small bunny sort of patch on the left side of the chest. Nick couldn't say no to that face.
"Alright, but you can't bring Bunny Bear to school. Okay?" Nick asked her as he followed her back to her room where she stowed Bunny Bear in her backpack. Auggie gave an innocent smile and went along stuffing clothing into her bag. Nick made a mental note to repack that backpack before they left.
Friday, September 7th, 2000, Stokes Residence, 2:45
"Can I help you?" Warrick asked a bloke maybe in his late forties to early fifties, with dark brown graying hair with brown eyes, sticking his head out of his open window as he pulled into Nick's driveway.
"Uh, yes, I'm looking for the Stokes Residence." The man said in a gruff voice turning around to face Warrick from the hood of his car.
"This is the Stokes Residence, but Nick is out right now. May I ask your name?" Warrick questioned putting his car in park on the side of the road so when Nick came back there was room for him to park in his own driveway.
"Franks. Mike Franks. Are you Brown?" Franks asked shaking hands with Warrick, a small smile working its way on his face.
"Warrick, please. Does Nick know you are coming?" the CSI asked talking a seat on the porch steps to wait for Auggie to get back from school.
"Stokes does yes, but Auggie on the other hand does not. This is part of her birthday surprise." Mike said a little louder so Warrick could hear him across the distance.
"Well get ready to surprise her because there's her bus now." Warrick told him with a groan, his bones creaking a little bit from the night before. Though soon that groan turned into a laugh when he saw Auggie running off the bus and towards him.
"Hey, Squirt. Happy Birthday!" Warrick said scooping up the little girl in his arms and tickling her for a moment to give Mike a minute to get ready.
"No hug for me, little miss?" Franks asked the little girl, sliding off the hood of his car and smiled a real smile in the first time that Warrick had met him. Auggie squealed in Warrick's ear like the day that she had went into her new room though unlike Nick Warrick had a better grip on the now five year old. It seemed like he could get her to the ground fast enough because as soon as her feet touched the ground she went running to the older man.
"Uncle Mike!" she yelled as soon as she was in the older man's arms. The same arms that held her a few months after she was born. Auggie held her arms around her tightly new wanting to let go.
"You've been good, right? Or else I guess you're not getting this present that I picked out for you myself." Mike teased, the five year old didn't take the teasing that good though. She went from smiling to a worried look in an instant. Then she started to hastily nod her head showing that she had been good.
"Mind if we move this inside? Nick is going to be home soon and Auggie needs to start her homework before the party starts." Warrick told them hating to be the party pooper, he was supposed to be the fun uncle but they had to get inside before Nick got home with the dog. Mike gave a nod and followed him inside after Warrick had picked up the discarded backpack.
"Alright Auggie start your homework." Warrick told her as he pulled out the folder that contained it. Auggie gave a groan but complied anyway. As Auggie got started on her homework Mike took a look around the house. It was a nice house, simple yet it gave off the comforting aura of home.
"Where is Stokes anyway?" Mike asked just as the door turned and unlocked with a click, it instantly had Auggie looking up from the paper that she had been working on.
"Nick is just out running a few errands he'll be back within the hour." Warrick said calmly, going over his god daughters homework before handing it back to her.
"And Nick just got back." Nick said speaking in third person giving a toothy grin setting down his grocery bags to catch Auggie who flew herself at him. Nick gave a smile and winked at Warrick to basically tell him silently that he had got the dog.
The birthday went exactly as Nick had hoped and reaffirmed Nick's beliefs that Auggie was a spoiled little girl by her aunts and uncles. At of the end of the day when Auggie was in bed and he was relaxing with his team, his family. Nick could not help but think that:
Life was perfect.