A/N: Hey guys! Thanks so much for the awesome reviews :) I'm glad you still love this story! We meet a dramatic climax this chapter, so I hope it was worth the wait ;) and, I hope you enjoy! I know CSI started again in the US last night, but we're still waiting in the UK, wish it'd hurry up already XD Anyway, rant over!

Please Review :) xx

Chapter 20: Early and Late

Morgan's mother had been in Vegas for two weeks now, and Morgan herself had been very grateful for this as she had a lot of questions to ask, and concerns to share. With only two weeks left until her due date, the mother to be was growing even more anxious about going into the labour; it wasn't the pain that she was specifically bothered about, but fearing something would be wrong with the baby.

"Nothing is going to go wrong" Greg assured her as Morgan voiced her concerns to him too "I won't let anything happen to either of you, I promise" he said encircling his arms around Morgan's waist and placing a soft kiss on her lips.

"I know, and I believe that" Morgan replied "But this isn't in your control, Greg"

Greg sighed as he looked his wife in her crystal blue eyes – they were still as beautiful and full of life as the day Greg married Morgan, but lately they seemed to have become tarnished with the dull tones of worry and fret. The father-to-be wished he could promise nothing would go wrong, but being scientists, both Greg and Morgan knew too well that wasn't the case. However, they'd already been through enough traumas during the pregnancy – it was time for them to hit some good luck.

"You're not going to have to do this alone" Greg settled on his point of comfort "I'm going to be there with you every step of the way, and your mom and dad too. I know that you're scared, I am too, but we're going to go through this whole parenthood thing together, and it'll be hard sometimes, but as long as we have each other, then we'll always know what to do"

Morgan smiled lovingly at her husband. She recalled their wedding vows were they'd promised to be there for each other for better or for worse – they had been through for worse with Morgan and the baby being at risk and Greg being shot, and the couple had remained together and strong. But now it was time for the better, for the birth of their child and Morgan knew that if they could survive those previous ordeals, then they could survive anything.

"Promise me you'll always be there" Morgan said in a whisper; she just needed to hear Greg say it one more time and then it could truly sink in.

"Morgan Sanders, I love you and our daughter with all of my heart, and I promise that I will always be there for the both of you" Greg said in what Morgan knew was heartfelt sincerity.

"Thank you" Morgan said quietly, and they shared a delicate kiss once more "Well love you too" she added once they pulled apart.

Greg's watch suddenly beeped to tell him it was time to go to work and the CSI sighed with dismay; he hated being away from Morgan and the baby for so long, but it was necessary to work up as much money as possible – they had a house and a baby to pay for now after all.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay with you?" Greg asked in his usual protective manner.

"No, I'll be fine" Morgan insisted "Go to work, my mom is here, and it's kind of her job to take care of me" Morgan teased.

The couple had finally managed to move into their new home, and so Morgan's mother was able to stay in the spare room. Morgan and Greg were both really pleased with the house, although it felt so large compared to their old shoebox apartment. However, they figured they were going to need all the extra room soon, with a third member of their little family coming along, lots of gifts and toys attached.

"Okay" Greg said a little hesitant as he pulled on his jacket "But if you need anything or anything happens…"

"Yes, yes I know!" Morgan laughed lightly at his overreacting "You're the first person I call" she promised before pulling him into a goodbye kiss.

"Alright, I'll see you later, love you" Greg said "Jeg elsker deg" he said to his daughter who kicked away happily – Greg was determined that she knew about her Norwegian heritage.

"Starting to get a little uncomfortable" Morgan commented as she rubbed her stomach in hope of soothing the baby.

"I know, but not long now" Greg reminded her with a smile before heading out the door.

Morgan stood into the drive and waved him off before heading back into the house. Elaine was in the kitchen making them dinner. Morgan sat at the table and placed both her hands on her stomach with a frown.

"Are you alright, M?" Elaine asked at her daughter's slightly puzzled look.

"Erm, well…okay I need to ask you something, but I didn't wanna say earlier because I didn't wanna freak Greg out" Morgan confessed.

Elaine suddenly became cautious of what could be said next so she sat opposite her daughter at the table.

"What is it, honey?" she asked concernedly.

"What does a contraction feel like?" Morgan asked biting her bottom lip nervously "Because I've noticed over the past couple of days I get these small craps every few hours…they don't hurt per say, it's just...weird"

"Ah, well that will be your Braxton Hicks contractions" her mother replied knowingly "Means the baby is getting ready to come out"

"But, my due date is not for another two weeks!" Morgan fretted a little.

"Sweetie, it's nothing to worry about, honestly" Elaine reassured her, and gave Morgan's hand a gentle squeeze. "I started having hicks with you months before you were born; it's just one of those natural things"

"Okay" Morgan said, feeling much more at ease "Thanks, mom" she added with a small smile.

"It's what I'm here for" Elaine replied with her own smile. "Now, let's eat this up and then I need to go get more supplies, your cupboards are bare!"

Morgan smirked and rolled her eyes "We haven't really had chance to go shopping" she claimed.

"Well, it's a good job I'm here to take care of you" Elaine grinned "What on earth would you do without me?"

Morgan smiled at her mother "I honestly don't know"

Russell and Nick noticed how Greg didn't appear to be giving the scene his full attention. The younger CSI would check his phone every ten minutes or so, and look at his watch more often than that. Russell could scold him for it, but decided not to; the supervisor was a father himself after all, and he did remember those anxious couple of weeks before the birth very well.

"You doing okay, wacky kid?" Russell asked Greg whilst Nick was talking to the coroner.

Greg smirked at Russell's pet name for him "Yeah, I'm fine" he replied.

"You know, I have done this whole waiting game four times" Russell told him with a smile "So if you have any questions…"

"How did you handle it?" Greg blurted out "When Barbra was in labour I mean, I'm worried I'm going to seriously freak out or something and I know I can't do that to Morgan"

Russell chuckled "Well, I had the same worries, but you have to remember to keep calm, so Morgan keeps clam and then everything will be okay"

"Yeah…it's just at these birthing classes they say practise breathing exercises, it just seemed so stupid" Greg said "And Morgan made me watch this birthing video" he grimaced and shuddered at the memory "It reminded me of something out of Alien"

Russell laughed "Well, it's different when it's your own baby" he claimed. "You'll think she's cute, no matter what – and the odds of her being adorable are good with Morgan as her mother"

Greg smiled "Yeah"

"What you have to remember is that Morgan has the hard job here and you just need to support her as much as possible. Just do whatever you normally do to calm her down when she's all stressed up"

"I don't think I can do that kind of stuff in a hospital room" Greg replied seriously and Russell raised an eyebrow at him.

"No, no I-I meant hold her hand or sing to her or something, Greg" Russell made himself clear.

"Oh!" Greg said with the tone or realisation "Gotcha" he said blushing brightly.

Russell laughed "You really are one wacky kid" he commented.

"Can't be a kid anymore" Greg told him "Got a kid of my own on the way"

"Yeah I know, but compared to an old man like me, you're still a kid" Russell said giving Greg's shoulder a light nudge. Greg just smirked and rolled his eyes.

Morgan was getting extremely uncomfortable as she shuffled relentlessly around on the sofa. The baby had been moving no stop for the past couple of hours, and the twinges of cramp from her Hicks contractions were becoming more apparent.

"Are you okay, honey?" Elaine asked concernedly as she sat next to her daughter.

"Not really, she's really going at it!" Morgan claimed.

Elaine frowned "Maybe it's time, do you want me to call Greg for you?" she asked.

"No" Morgan replied "I wanna be absolutely sure before he comes rushing over here" she explained.

"Okay" Elaine said a little hesitantly "You should get up and walk around a bit, the movement will hopefully help soothe her" she suggested.

"Alright, I should probably get some laundry done anyways" Morgan said, and after her mother helped her up Morgan headed to her and Greg's bedroom.

Morgan was stood folding some clothes on the bed, when all of a sudden a sharp pain hit her, and she clutched her stomach with a grunt of pain. She sat on the bed and rubbed the baby bump, hoping to help soothe her, but the same pain came again about ten minutes later and Morgan couldn't hide the audible gasp of pain which escaped her.

"Mom!" she called just as her water broke "Oh God" Morgan seethed.

"Morgan…" Elaine hurried to the door at sound of her daughter's distressed voice, but she was not expecting this. "Oh my" she breathed.

"I think I'm absolutely sure now!" Morgan exclaimed as another wave of pain hit her.

"Okay, don't worry I'm taking you to the hospital right now" Elaine told her.

"Greg…" Morgan breathed.

"It's alright, I'll contact him whilst we're driving over" Elaine promised as she helped Morgan up and grabbed the hospital bag they had prepared.

"You're early" Morgan said to the bump with a small smile "But you have to wait for daddy, okay? He won't want to miss you"

"He won't" Elaine reassured her "Let's go" she said helping Morgan down the stairs and out of the house.

Greg was still at the crime scene with Nick and Russell; a news reporter had come out to the desert to do a news segment when her crew had stumbled across the body of three young teenagers. From the amount of syringes, knifes and weird markings over the victims' bodies, the CSIs could only assume it had been a cult thing, and therefore there was plenty of evidence to find.

Greg was just finishing up photographing the third body when his phone began to ring.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Greg! Morgan's gone into labour" Elaine's hurried voice replied; she didn't have time to prepare her son-in-law for the shock.

"W-what?" Greg stuttered.

"The baby is on the way" Elaine said more calmly "Morgan and I are on our way to Desert Palms right now"

"Alright, is Morgan doing okay?" Greg asked as he waved Nick over.

"Okay so far" Elaine reported "but her contractions are becoming closer together, so you better hurry"

"Okay, I'm leaving right now, tell Morgan I'm on my way and that I promise I'll be there on time" Greg said in a hurry before hanging up.

"What's up?" Nick asked only hearing a little of the conversation.

"Morgan's gone into labour" Greg said and Nick's eyes widened in shock "I need to leave like right now, we're in the middle of nowhere for God sake!" Plus, his physical therapist still wasn't allowing him to drive.

"Alright, I'll take you" Nick said "Russell, we gotta go!" he called as Greg hurried over to the car "Morgan's gone into labour"

"Wow, okay" Russell replied "You guys go ahead, and tell Greg and Morgan good luck" Nick nodded "Get him to that hospital on time, Nick!" he called after the Texan.

"I wouldn't dare be late!" Nick called back.

The CSI clambered into his truck were Greg was sat nervously waiting "Step on it" the younger man said.

Nick smirked "With pleasure" and with that they began to tear down the dusty road.