AN: Thanks for the support, here is the next chapter.

Chapter 11: Committed?

Mariah woke up to the smell of breakfast coming from the kitchen, and she couldn't help but smile as thoughts from last night came through her mind.

Flashback

It was several seconds of silence, which felt like hours to Mariah, after she had said the words 'I'm Pregnant', and the still shocked look on his face was making her quite nervous, so she cleared her throat and started to speak. "Devon, please say something."

He cleared his throat and shook his head. "Right, um pregnant, as in..." He does a rocking motion with his arms, and she nodded with a small smile, then he cleared his throat and nodded again. "Ok, uhm, wow."

When he was about to speak again, Mariah continued before he could. "And please don't have the next words 'we were careful' come out of your mouth."

He chuckled, and that seemed to get him out of his stuttering state. "A very cliché thing to say, huh?"

She chuckled in return with a nod. "Yes.'

He cleared his throat one more time before placing his hand on top of hers and asked with concern. "How are you feeling?"

"The sickness comes and go, which is the norm I hear, and I'm a little nervous this is happening, but other than that I'm alright." She took a breath then finished with tears in her eyes as she told him exactly how she was starting to feel about the whole situation. "I love you Devon, but I want this baby. This may have not been planned, but he or she is a part of me, and the thought of..."

She trailed off, not even able to say the words, and Devon looked at her with shock for a second before cupping her cheek with his other hand. "No! I would never ask you to do that, or make you choose, ever." Not able to keep them inside anymore, her tears came down her cheek and he wiped them away as he continued softly. "You're right, this wasn't planned, at least right now, but I was kind of hoping it was in our plans eventually. It just moved up a few steps than I had imagined."

Mariah smiled through more tears as she asked. "Really?"

He nodded with a smile as a few tears were showing in his eyes. "Absolutely, since we started seeing one another, all I can think about is building a life with you, and if this step comes first, then so be it, I'm with you every step of the way, I'm not going anywhere. babe."

Mariah sighed in relief after hearing those words from him and immediately wrapped her arms around his neck as she cried softly while saying. "I love you."

He wrapped his arms around her and whispered. "I love you too, so much, and we are going to make this work, I promise."

She nodded as they continued to hold on to one another with so many different emotions running through them they couldn't pick out the most dominate one.

End of Flashback

Her thoughts about last night were interrupted when she heard and saw Devon come into the bedroom with a breakfast tray. "Good morning, I thought I would help start your day out right."

She beamed as she sat up in bed. "Well, thank you, I appreciate it."

He nodded as he sat the tray down in place before walking to his side of the bed as she groaned in more appreciation of the meal he cooked after taking her first bite. That's one thing she was kind of surprised about when it came to him, his cooking. Which it turned out cooking was in his genes, both his grandpa and dad were chefs and they taught him everything they knew.

While she was in the middle part of her meal, she looked over at him, which he was looking over at her, so they smiled before she asked after clearing her throat. "So, I have a question."

He reached for hand while asking. "Ok, what is it?"

"You remember asking me something yesterday?"

He didn't hesitate as he nodded. "I believe I sort of asked you to move in here with me."

"Well, do you still, maybe, want to live together?"

He smiled as he slipped his fingers through hers. "Are you asking me now?"

"Uh, call it a joint asking, but only if..."

She trailed off, now unsure about the offer, and he spoke a second later, relieving her of her fear. "Yes, the offer is still there. I would love for us to live together."

She smiled again as she replied. "Awesome." He chuckled before kissing her hand, then she sighed as she took her hand out of his. "I better finish eating, I still have to get ready for work." Which with thoughts of work, she thought of Nick, so she asked. "You think Director Stokes will be in today?"

Devon's response was immediate. "No, I don't think so, if you had..." He trailed off as she took his hand again and gave it a squeeze for comfort before he finished after clearing his throat. "Well, I wouldn't leave your side for a second."

She just nodded as she slipped her hand out of his again so she could eat, both hoping everything was ok since they didn't know what was going on yet. They just knew Sara would tell them once she found out.

Tim gets a little shocked that he was woken up by his alarm, so after turning it off, he moved closer to his bed companion, wrapped his arms around her and whispered with a smile. "I thought I turned off my alarm yesterday." With Lindsey being here for a visit for a few days, so he had that time off, he had turned his alarm off since there wasn't any set time they had to be up.

Lindsey smiled as she opened her eyes before whispering in return. "As amazing at it would be to stay in bed with you all day." His smile got brighter at that before she continued in a serious tone. "We both know there is a chance Nick isn't going to the lab today, so more than likely Sara will be covering for him, making your team a little short for the day."

He sighed slightly before he continued. "You're probably right. I'm sorry."

She turned around so now she was looking at him before she cupped his cheek as she continued. "Hey, things happen that's beyond our control sometimes, and you have to do what you have to do, believe me, I know that very well."

He nodded in understanding. "Because of your mom."

"Oh, yeah. There were times it was frustrating, and sad when our plans got cancelled, but now that I'm doing what she does, I get it, and I understand more about it."

After one more nod, they peck each other on the lips before she moved and got out of bed, wearing nothing but one of his old San Diego State t-shirts, before walking towards the bathroom.

When she had walked back into the bedroom a few minutes later, Tim was at his dresser pulling out some clothes, then once he was done, he turned around and looked at her for a second, then smiled, making her smile in return as she raised her eyebrow. "What?"

He then cleared his throat before speaking on what he had been thinking. "I don't think I can do this."

She gets a worried look on her face and her heart started to race as she asked. 'What do you mean, I thought that..."

He cuts her off as he goes to the end of his bed and sat down. "The deeper our relationship becomes, the more I realize that I can't plan our relationship on just visits, so I've been thinking that maybe I should move to Vegas. What do you think?"

She looked at him with shock. "What!? For real?"

He nodded with a smile. "For real, if you'll have me in your city."

She chuckled while moving towards him and kissed him softly, then after they pulled back, she asked with concern as she cupped his cheek. "What about your team?"

He sighed with a nod. "It will suck that would have to leave them behind, they've been more like my family than co-workers, the best one I've ever had, But..." He stopped for a second to cup her cheek. "I love you, and I think if we are serious about us, our time should be spent together, not most of it being apart."

She nodded a second later as she ran her thumb up and down his cheek. "I agree, so if this is something you really want, I'm behind you, and I would love it."

He smiled before they share a soft kiss, then after they pulled back again, he continued. "We'll talk more about it later tonight. I love you."

"I love you too."

They kissed one more time before he finally stands up, and with his clothes, he walks to the bathroom so he could get ready for work, both excited for the next step of their relationship.

After Kevin and Nicole woke up in her bed, which all they did was sleep, they headed down towards the kitchen to make breakfast, and they were moving around in sync they've been doing this for years.

Then after the third time meeting in the middle, Kevin smiles as he wraps his arms around her. "I could get use to this."

Nicole smiles in return as she wraps her arms around his neck, whispering, "Me too." Before their lips touched.

But as they were pulling back there was voice they were not expecting to be heard. "Mom?"

They turned to look over at the boy, and he shook his had with a sad look on his face before rushing out the room, and Nicole gives Kevin an apologetic look before following her son out of the room, while Kevin sighed slightly. He never wanted him to find out about him and his mom like that.

Before his thoughts could go further, they were interrupted when another person showed up in the doorway of the kitchen, Jason's mom, Carson's grandmother.

Kevin immediately cleared his throat before he started speaking. "Susan, I..."

But the brown-haired, hazel-eyed, 5'7, medium build, 56 year old woman, raised her hand to cut him off. "Nicole is a young woman, I never expected her to be single for the rest of her life, and I know my son would want her to move on and live her life." As Kevin nodded, she couldn't help but smirk. "Only I guess I should have known it would have been you."

He smiled shyly before clearing his throat and sincerely replied. "Just know that I respected what your son had with Nicole, nothing happened between us while he was still alive."

Already believing in her heart that he was telling her the truth, she also saw it in his eyes, so she nodded with a small smile. "I know."

As Kevin nodded, Nicole had walked back into the kitchen with a sigh before Kevin spoke. "How is he?"

"Upset, I tried talking to him, but he doesn't want to hear it right now."

Before could he speak, Susan did it first. "You still want me to have him today?"

Nicole looked at her Ex-Mother-in law with small sigh and nod. "As much as I know I need to talk to him, things at work might be a little off today, so they could be short-handed, and I need to go in."

Susan nodded in understanding before replying. "While he's with me today, I'll talk to him."

"Thank you, and about..."

Susan cuts her off with a smile and an understanding look in her eyes. "It's ok. I know how hard you've taken the loss of your husband, my son, but now it's time to find happiness again." She then smirked again as she nodded towards Kevin. "Besides, I think he'd approve of this one."

Nicole nodded with a smile, remembering the letter he had written to her. "I know he would have."

Susan nodded in return before finishing. "I'll talk to you later."

"OK."

After they said 'bye', Susan turned and walked out, leaving Nicole and Kevin in the kitchen together, then when they looked at one another, he spoke first. "I'm sorry, I know this was not how you wanted them to find out about us."

She walked up to him and took his hand. "No, it wasn't. But neither one of us thought they would show up here in the morning, I thought he had packed everything he needed for the night and day."

Kevin nodded, then he couldn't help but smirk next. "Well, look at it this way, least the hard part of telling them is done. Now all we need to do is smooth out the sharp edges."

She nodded and replied, but she was a little lost in thought. "That's true." Then she took a breath and continued. "Kevin..."

But he cuts her off as he squeezed her hand lightly. "Listen, I know this will take him time to get use to seeing us as a couple. But eventually, he'll come around, and I don't care how long it will take or what I have to do to show him that I love and care for him too. I'm not walking away from you, or him. You two are stuck with me no matter what."

He knew exactly how Carson feels because he went through the same thing when his mom started moving on after his father had died when he was 12, and now he had a very good relationship with his step-dad.

She nodded again with a smile before replying with a small sniffle. "Thank you. I love you."

He whispered in return. "I love you too."

After they pulled back from a soft kiss, he sighed. "As much as I don't want to leave right now, I should go home, take a shower and get ready for work. I have a feeling we are going to be very busy today."

"I'll see you at the lab soon."

"Ok."

They kissed one more time, then after one more smile and 'love you' was said, he walked out of the kitchen before walking out of the house, shutting the door behind him.

Nicole sighed as the toast lifted up from the toaster, so she decided on just toast this morning as she worried about her son and how the day will be like.

Grissom woke to the sound of the bathroom door opening, and when he opened his eyes, he saw his wife walking in the room, dressed with her hair wet, indicating she had just taken a shower.

They smiled at one another as she moved to his side of the bed, and after a soft kiss, they pull back before she spoke softly. "Good morning."

"Good morning, honey. You're up a little early."

She nodded with a short sigh. "Yeah, I thought I would get ready and go to the hospital to see Nick." He nodded in understanding as she continued. "And speaking of that, could you do me a favor?"

He gave her a slight smile as he spoke, knowing what she was going to ask him. "Go to the lab, pass out assignments and tell Kevin he's in charge today?"

Sara smiled in return with a nod. "Yeah, if you don't mind. I'll cover for Nick if he wants me to, so he doesn't have another thing to worry about today."

"Don't worry about it, I got it."

"Thank you."

He nodded as he started to get out of bed, then as he walked toward the bathroom, he continued. "I'll bring in lunch later."

She smiled warmly at him before replying. "I would like that, thank you."

He smiled warmly at her, which only made her heart skip a few extra beats, before continuing his way to the bathroom as she finished getting ready for her day, having a feeling it was going to be a long one.

After Nick walked out of Whitney's hospital room, leaving her parents and brother behind, he headed for the nearest coffee machine, and just as the liquid was coming out, Brad's voice was heard next to him. "What are you doing?"

A very tired looking Nick looked at Brad and replied. "I'm getting your mom some coffee, what do you..."

Brad cuts him off while shaking his head. "That's not what I mean, you heard what I told you last night, so what are you doing?"

Nick's eyes narrowed as he realized what Brad was saying. "Wait a minute, you thought I was just going to walk away after hearing my girlfriend may never walk again?"

Brad sighed. "Well, you wouldn't be the first person to leave their significant other after something like this happens, so if you are, you might as well do it now rather than wait a few months down the road."

Nick shook his head after grabbing the coffee. "Well, I'm not, not now, or in a few months."

He started walking away when Brad spoke again. "Why stick around?"

Not in the mood for this, Nick turned around with his eyes blazing. "Why do you think? I love her."

Brad stopped in front him, eye level to one another, as he spoke in a hard tone. "If you love her so much why are you two still just dating? You've been with her for over a year now, and you two are not even living together or engaged, so what's really holding you back from fully committing to her." Before Nick could say another word, Brad took the cup from him and walked away,

Nick clinched his fists a few seconds later as he walked towards the coffee machine again, but instead of getting another cup, he kicked it right before he heard Sara's voice. "What did the coffee machine ever do to you?" He turned to see Sara standing there before he sighed and walked over to the chairs that was next to the machine and sat down.

Sara walked towards the chairs and sat down next to him before looking over at him with sympathy, he looked completely exhausted. "I know it's a stupid question, but I'm going to ask anyways, how are you doing?"

He sighed again as he ran his hand down his tired face before replying. "Tried, and completely frustrated." He let's some of his emotions out as he finished. "Brad said she may never walk again, and there is nothing I can do to change that for her."

Sara placed her hand on his arm as she spoke softly. "I'm sorry Nick, but you know what you can do, right?"

He nodded with a sniffle. "Be there for her and help her though this, and that's what I'm intending to do. I'm not leaving her."

"I know you love her."

He smiled with tears in his eyes. "I really do, and if you can see it, then why can't Brad?"

She looked confused and concerned. "What makes you think Brad..."

Nick cuts her off. "He accused me of holding back my commitment to her. And a part of me gets it, he wants to protect his sister, but he should know..."

This time Sara cuts him off. "Why have you been holding back?"

He looked at her with wide-eyes, a little shocked that she would ask that. "What!"

"I mean it's been over a year and..."

Nick cuts her off as he stood up. "Not you too! Listen, not all relationships are the same, they all go through different speeds."

"You're absolutely right, but most of the time the two people who are involved are on the same page. Are you sure Whitney knows just how committed you are? I mean there has to be a reason Bard is questioning your commitment to her."

She knew the siblings were close, so she wouldn't have been surprised if Whitney had said something about her and Nick's relationship to her brother, or that he might have picked up something on his own.

"Of course she knows." He stopped for a second before continuing. "Or at least I think she does." Then he sighed as he sat back down, being completely honest with her and himself. "Honestly, I don't know. I guess a part of me has been holding back a little."

Sara spoke again after clearing her throat. "Would it have something to do with you still holding on to a little feeling for Catherine?"

He looked at her with a little shock. "You Knew?"

Sara nodded with a smile. "I did."

He shook his head with a smile. "Why am I not surprised." She chuckled softly before he continued with a sigh. "But I know it's time I give up on that, if we were meant to be it would have happened by now. But you have to know I never faked how much I felt for Whitney, the day I met her really did change my life. I just didn't realize how much until..."

Sara cuts him off one more time with tears in her eyes. "I told you about the accident."

Nick nodded with tears in his eyes as he nodded. "I don't want to lose her."

Sara nodded as she brought him in her arms for a hug. "I know, and you won't, just finally let her in, let her see your whole heart."

As they were pulling back, Brad's voice interrupted the moment. "Whitney's awake, and she wants to see you Nick."

Nick and Sara shared a smile before he stood up and started walking, passing Brad without a word, and after a few seconds, Brad and Sara look at one another before she spoke. "Give him a chance Brad, he really does love her."

Brad really wanted to believe her, and in Nick, but he sees the doubt in his sister's eyes every time her relationship with Nick was brought up in conversation, so he sighed and replied softly. "I guess we'll find that out in the next few months."

Sara nodded as she stood up, having complete faith in one of her best friends. "I guess we will."

Then they started walking towards Whitney's room in silence, thankful she's now awake and silently vowing to help her any way that they could.

AN: More to come. Please Review