Baby

(Conclusion)

It was late at night on a Monday, and for once, the members of certain CSI night shift weren't in a cramped conference room discussing a case, or in some cramped motel room, investigating a crime.

Tonight, they were in a cramped hospital room.

Actually, the room was quite spacious; but with seven people in there -five of them holding huge gifts that they just couldn't wait for the other two to see- things were bound to get a bit rowdy. It wasn't till a nurse came in and gave them a stern warning, that they finally quieted down.

When the nurse left, Sara, sitting in bed and still looking a bit wan, gave them a look.

"Are you happy?" she asked in mock reproach.

"Sorry," Nick said, taking Sara's words seriously. "We got carried away."

"Maybe we should come back later," Greg said tentatively, "You've got to be tired, after all -"

"I'm fine," Sara said quickly. After all, it wasn't every day that her colleagues had a chance to act silly; she didn't want to put an end to it too soon. There was someone else to consider, however, and so she added, "As long as he doesn't mind, you can stay," and she eyed the tiny bundle resting by her side.

Sara's baby was lying on his back, comfortably dressed in a light shirt and a diaper. He was blissfully oblivious to the commotion around him, although he did perk up whenever Sara or the man he would one day call 'dad' spoke. He already recognized their voices.

Once she made sure that the baby was all right, Sara looked up.

"I'd really like to see the gifts," she said, "Catherine? Would you please open them up for me?"

Greg, Grissom, Warrick and Nick immediately thrust their gifts in Catherine's direction, but she picked her own gift instead.

"Ta-dah!" she said, holding the disposable diapers for Sara's inspection.

Sara's mouth opened, but no sound came. She visibly made an effort to smile.

"Gee," she muttered, "Hum, thanks."

"You'll thank me with more sincerity in a couple of weeks," Catherine smirked. She glanced around, "Ok, who's next?" Four gifts were pushed into her line of vision, but she ignored them yet again. Instead, she picked a paper bag she'd brought along with the diapers.

"This is from Hodges," she explained, pulling a large, multicolored blanket from the bag. "He made it himself."

Sara's eyes widened.

"He what?"

"He crocheted it," Catherine said placidly, "He says it's a great stress reliever."

Sara gingerly took the blanket. "It's soft," she said, frankly surprised –and pleased.

Nick shook his head, "I can't imagine a guy doing a thing like that."

"Or admitting it," Greg muttered.

"Hey, it's Hodges," Catherine said with a shrug, "He's got to do things differently all the time. Now," she added, looking around more animatedly, "What else have we got here?"

Eventually, Catherine opened all the gifts and passed them to Sara, who was delighted to discover that her friends had chosen educational gifts, so different from the generic stuff she'd seen other mothers get. That the guys had put some thought into their gifts was obvious; with each gift that was passed to her, the giver took the time to explain why he'd chosen it, and what he expected to accomplish with it.

"He's gonna be a musician, you'll see," Warrick said. "I mean, remember all those songs I played for him back at the lab? I was nurturing him even before he was born."

"Music is ok," Nick said when his turn came, "As a hobby, I mean. But sports," he smiled, "Sports make a boy's life fuller. I'll see to it that this baby learns every sport -"

"You get injured if you play sports," Greg interrupted, "But when you nurture your brain, the whole world is open to you." He eyed the baby, "I'll be there to teach him chess, which is a way of life in itself."

"Sports and music and chess will be a part of his life," Sara said in a conciliatory manner, "We'll make sure of that. Meanwhile, he can have fun with this," she added, placing Grissom's teddy bear within the baby's reach.

Gil smiled, "I just hope he likes insects. I already ordered an ant farm for him."

"An ant farm?" Nick asked. "Gee, Grissom, I don't think that'd be very safe -"

"Oh, and bats and balls are?" Greg retorted. "You know how many jocks got injured for life when I was in high school?"

"I do," Nick replied, "Do you know how many chess players got beaten up by the jocks?"

"Hey," Catherine said suddenly, "Tone it down, boys. Do you want that nurse to come back?" Noticing that she had the men's attention, she added, "You know, you're acting way too possessive about this child." She glanced at Sara and smirked, "They're starting to sound like all of them had something to do with the baby's conception."

"Hey, we all know who the father is," Sara said a bit defensive.

"Aw, of course we do," Warrick said, looking down at the baby, "I mean, look at his eyes."

They all looked at the baby's bright eyes.

"Look at his chin," Gil added, and they all looked at the child's chin.

Nick reached out and touched a tiny hand. The baby instinctively wrapped his fingers around Nick's index finger and held on tight.

"See?" Nick said, "He's got his daddy's strength, too."

"And his hair," Greg said, noticing the sparse growth crowning the tiny head.

Their words made Sara frown.

"You know," she said slowly, "I've just realized something: My baby doesn't look anything like me!

The guys, still looking at the baby, frowned, too.

Catherine waved a dismissive hand.

"Ah, don't worry, Sara," she said, "Kids grow into their looks. Especially boys."

But Sara didn't seem convinced. She kept looking at the baby, wishing she could see some trace of herself in him. There seemed to be nothing…

…Until, suddenly, and for no apparent reason, the baby smiled.

Sara gasped, but it was Catherine who spoke first.

"You see?"

Together, the men looked at the baby, and then they looked up at the new mom.

"He's got your smile," the baby's father said softly.

"Yeah," the others said.

And then they sighed.

The end