DISCLAIMER:Don't own anything associated with the show… I just like playing with the characters in it from time to time. Dance Monkeys! Dance!
RATING: T – Teen (language and adult issues)
PAIRINGS: GSR & Yo!Bling pre-established in previous fics of this timeline.
SPOILERS: Sequel to "Displacement" and "Transitions"
SUMMARY: Everything is changing around Nick Stokes. Can he deal with it, and how it will affect him in the end?

A/N: Another one coming right at ya! Oh yeah, and be warned... There is a SERIOUS FLUFF ALERT for the rest of this story. :D

REVIEWS: Reviews are the way I know if people are enjoying the work or not. So, if you leave one, THANKS! And if not, I hope you found at least a little something to brighten your day, and thanks for taking the time to read.

Chapter 48
22:00 – 2006.12.31
Stratosphere Hotel & Casino: Grissom/Sidle Wedding Reception

With an easy smile playing across his face, Nick Stokes sat back at the table and soaked in the amazing feelings of joy and love that were filling the private dining room of the Top of the World Restaurant. He watched on as his friends delighted in the time spent together, and in celebration of the newly married couple.

He decided that even if he did have to dress up in a monkey suit, the whole thing had been worth it. The ceremony was strangely elegant, considering the two people involved, but Nick felt like it was the perfect event for them as well. And he made sure to tell that to Grissom's mother as he escorted her to the dining room. As he sat there, he realized that the woman had an inordinate amount of time to have come up with the perfect scenario for her son, seeing as it had taken him fifty years to get it right.

Nick was also pleased with Grissom's reasoning for getting married before midnight on New Year's Eve. In fact, Nick was a little shocked to have discovered what a romantic his boss and mentor had become. Grissom told the guys, as they waited for the ladies to arrive, that he was not going to let another year pass by without being married to the most amazing woman he had ever known. In that moment, seeing Grissom's eyes sparkle with some indefinable emotion, Nick forgave him for all the pain he had caused Sara in the past.

When a shock of blonde hair caught his eye, Nick's focus was diverted to another happy couple. Looking at them, he saw the love shared by a family in the eyes of Warrick and Catherine. And when he looked at Lindsey, he saw a smile that had been missing from the girl for a long time. She might still go through all the teenage angst, but he could tell she was no longer a ship adrift at sea; she had family now and it grounded her. As he watched Warrick reach for Catherine's hand, he knew that there was probably another event such as this on the horizon, and it made him smile all the more.

His attention was again moved when he heard Greg yelp, and once he could see the young CSI, he understood the problem. Brass had just ripped the suggestively folded napkin off of Greg's head and threw it at him. One of these days he would learn when to knock it off, but for the time being he figured Greg would simply remain the court jester in their odd little group.

He chuckled a little when he saw Doc Robbins and his wife sitting with Grissom's and Stephanie's mothers. From the fragments of conversation he heard, he deciphered that they were reminiscing about some art exhibit they had all been to in the sixties. He thought it was always surprising what some people found in common.

At first, Nick was surprised that the guest list had included some of the ancillary people in their lives, but upon seeing Sara interact with David's fiancé Sandi and Wendy from the lab, he realized that maybe Sara had taken his advice about getting out more. The three women seemed to be deeply embroiled in a discussion, but just as quickly it was turned into a round of laughter when Stephanie stepped into the fray. It was when they all turned to look at Super Dave that Nick realized they were probably talking about more wedding stuff. Nick shook his head, and wondered how poor David was going to fair with his own nuptials. If Grissom had taken forever to find the girl, Super Dave had a hard time actually marrying her. It felt like those two had been engaged for an eternity.

As Nick watched Sara and Stephanie excuse themselves from the conversation and moved back to where their husbands sat, Nick thought about how Sara looked when she walked out onto that observation deck.

Typical for Sara, she chose to wear something not everyone would have worn to a wedding. It was made of a loose and flowing material, but it still managed to cling to her in all the right spots. The color was not the traditional white, but more of a shimmering ivory. It had those thin little straps that showed just how much shoulder she had, and with the color of the dress, it also brought out the color of her skin; like a dusted peach. And in true Sara fashion, she had a delicate scarf wrapped around her neck, and it flowed around her as she moved.

Outside of the occasional pony tail, when she let it get long enough, Nick had never before seen Sara with her hair up. He decided it was probably a good thing she kept it down most of the time, because she would have never been able to get away from all the guys if she looked like that every day. With her hair up, it showed her angularly lavish neck, and gave her an air of regal beauty few women possessed.

Her eyes were the next thing that caught his attention. They were bright, and sparkling and filled with life and love, the likes of which he had never seen before, and it forced him to look away. He realized his friend had found that perfect miracle of love, and it made it hard for him to keep from welling up at the sheer emotion of that revelation.

However, when he turned to look at Grissom, he gave up on the idea getting through the ceremony without tears. He looked on the man that had been his teacher, his mentor, his boss for many years; the man he considered stronger than a stone and always in control of his emotions. But the man before him was filled with so much emotion in that moment that it began to tumble from his eyes in the form of tears. As taken with the sight of Sara walking across the deck as he had been, it was blatantly obvious that none was as deeply affected as Grissom. And all around him, he could hear the tell tale sounds of tissues being passed and noses being sniffled. When a tissue was thrust in front of him, he knew that someone had been prepared for the inevitable.

As Sara finally made it to the front, Nick watched as Grissom reached out for her hand and then cradled it in his arm as he waited for the judge to begin.

Nick would remember those moments for the rest of his days. In those moments, he found the last thing he had been missing; he found hope again.