My Way is Clear

by Simply Ginger

Nick meets a paramedic after getting injured at a crime scene. In an AU, this is their story. This is not a slash and all the characters from CSI show up eventually.

29. Mandolin Rain

Chapter 29 – Mandolin Rain

"Anna?" I was impatiently waiting on her to come up front so we could leave. Cassie was sitting down beside me, patiently waiting as well. "You can't go. I'll bring you back a doggie bag." She cocked her head to the side and whimpered, "I know, but you can't come."

"Nicky?" Anna came up front wearing a pair of jeans and one of her Las Vegas Wranglers long sleeved t-shirts. Danilla saw her come in which got Draco excited. As Draco barked, Danilla arched her back and hissed before running off towards the other end of the house. "See, she doesn't just hate you. I see you're wearing your shirt. You look good." We had gone to a game a few weeks ago and Anna bought me my own Wranglers shirt and I was wearing mine as well.

"Yep." I leaned forward to kiss Anna, "I figured we'd match." After Draco took off towards the back of the house, I patted Cassie's head and we left, headed to go eat. Anna and I had decided to eat at the Monaco casino for Thanksgiving and head to a Wranglers game after we ate. The game was an early afternoon game and that would give us enough time to have a late lunch, watch the game and head back home before I had to come in to work.

We got to the Monaco and just like last year, it was as crowded this year as it was last year. The waitress seated the two of us quickly and told us to help ourselves to the buffet. Hearing those words, Anna shot up and made her way to the buffet line and came back a moment later with a plate full of food. After she got back, I left to get my food as Anna was asking the waitress if she had a notebook or some paper and a pen she could use. Shaking my head as I left, wondering what in the world Anna needed pen and paper for, I made my way up to the buffet line.

Just as last year, two large turkeys were in the center of the buffet with trimmings on either side. I heard my stomach start to growl as I scooped a heavy portion of mashed potatoes onto my plate and drowned them unmercifully in brown gravy. After carving off some turkey and adding corn, green beans and yams to my plate, I felt satisfied that this was a good first trip through the line. I knew Anna well enough to know she'd make another trip through and I was good for one more trip myself.

Anna was already eating as I sat down. "So I was thinking about bridesmaids." She put her fork down on the edge of her plate after taking a drink from her Sprite, "Well, I've been thinking about a lot more than just that, but that seems to be a pressing wedding related issue."

I smiled, "So what size dress does Bryan need?"

"Uh, no. I was thinking Cathy as my maid of honor plus Jillian and Allison."

"My sisters?"

"Yeah, unless you know a different Jillian and Allison. How many groomsmen are you planning on having?"

I stopped to think, "Well, my brother for sure. I was planning on making him the best man. Bryan is your honorary matron of honor, but he'll be on my side with Tyler and Grissom, who has always been like a father to me."

"What about Warrick and Greg?"

"That's five."

"Nicky, I can count. I didn't know if you wanted to include them. Since your team is so small, what about hurt feelings? If you include Grissom and not Warrick and Greg, then what?"

Anna had a point, "Good point, but that's five and you've only got three listed. I take it your sister is not coming?"

She shook her head, "I doubt it and even if she would…" Anna didn't finish her thought as she started writing again, "So I need two more." She studied her list for a moment as she ate another bite of mashed potatoes, "Think Catherine would want to help? What about Sara? We'll just have everyone at the lab be in it."

I swallowed a bite of my food before I spoke, "I think that if you didn't ask Catherine, she'd make it look like an accident one night at work for me and as for Sara, as long as she's paired with Grissom, I think she'll be fine with that."

"I just thought of something." Anna started to laugh after I asked her what it was, "There are going to be more people in the wedding party than in the audience."

"I don't care. This is our wedding. We've already decided on Twinkies and the date, so if we want half a dozen bridesmaids and groomsmen plus a handful of people in the audience, then that's our prerogative. We're already breaking all the rules as it is so why not one more?"

"True."

Anna hadn't mentioned anything about who was going to walk her down the aisle yet. I was guessing by her silence on the subject that her father was out, "So what about who's walking you down the aisle?"

"Bryan's dad. I asked him."

I felt a stab of pain in my heart when Anna told me who was going to be walking her down the aisle, "So your father…"

She exhaled a sharp breath and took another bite of her lunch, "Told me he couldn't get the time off. I doubt if he even asked. He said he and mama would send a gift but who cares. My grandmother, on the other hand, is livid that they're not going. She called me the other day at work after my father got off the phone. Bryan could hear her screaming on the phone at my father from across the room, but he refused to budge saying he couldn't get time off." Anna looked up at me and I could see it in her eyes that it did bother her that her father told her no, but she was doing her best to keep up a happy façade for me. "So after that, Bryan gave me his phone and told me to call his dad and I did and he was thrilled to help me out. It kinda makes more sense considering Bryan's family raised me anyway."

"How so?"

"I know you know about the turmoil in my family."

"Yeah." I knew that Anna wasn't close to her family and that her sister was more like a stranger. When I went to Arkansas to get Anna, I was actually shocked she was with her sister. I figured she'd be at Bryan's parents' house, but instead, she was at Sam's. "You being at your sister's in Arkansas wasn't exactly a place I would have thought to look for you at."

"That's why I went there. I knew you wouldn't look there and I knew that Bryan wouldn't look there either."

"I can't imagine what that was like. I think the most traumatic family related thing that happened to me as a kid was I threw my brother through a screen door because he broke a bowl of oatmeal over my head." Anna started to laugh, "Before you ask, yes I'm serious."

"Do I want to know?"

"I was washing dishes and was standing on this little train step thing my father got. We all had to take turns washing dishes and I was too short to reach the counter at the time. I was doing my dishes and my brother came over and told me to move because he needed to get a spoon out of the drawer behind me. When I didn't move, he got mad and shoved me. I pulled on to him to keep from falling off the stool and instead, brought him down with me. He had the oatmeal in his hand and hit me over the head with it and broke the bowl on my head."

By this time, Anna was laughing so hard, tears were coming out of her eyes. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh..."

"I'm feeling the love here. It hurt like hell too. So when I got up, I was covered in hot oatmeal with a broken dish in the kitchen floor. My brother had stood up and was laughing. Allison had come in to see what the problem was and that's when I got mad and pushed Tyler through the screen door in the kitchen. At the time, the deck wasn't there and when I shoved Tyler, he fell off the porch step and landed in a mud puddle. By this time, I was laughing so hard, I had forgotten about the bloody oatmeal dripping off my head."

Resting her head on her arms, Anna had laid her head on the table so she could laugh. When she quit laughing as hard, she sat back up and wiped some tears out of her eyes, "Damn, that's great. That's just what I needed to make me feel better. I can just see you throwing Tyler through a door. What'd your mother do?"

"Well, after she took us to the hospital to make sure we didn't have brain damage, she brought us back home. Tyler and I got stuck mucking the stalls for a month. Jillian and Allison were thrilled to be relieved of their horse duty for a month. What was the wildest thing you and Bryan ever did? What stories can you tell?"

"The wildest thing…" Anna stopped to take another bite of her lunch and washed it down with a drink of her Sprite, "Well, moving to San Fran was one of them I guess you could say. That was sort of a rash decision."

"Bryan's cousin had a hand in that?"

"Yeah. Bryan and I both did our EMT certification together then while we were in college, we got our paramedic licenses. After we graduated, we planned on working for the Fayetteville fire department, but when his cousin came along, well, we changed our minds. I was at his apartment and we were getting ready to go back to class and he just looked at me and went, 'So, how do you feel about San Fran?' I thought he was nuts until he said his cousin got in touch with the HR director and they wanted to offer us the jobs but it wasn't official yet. When I found that out, I gave notice with my apartment and about a month later, we had moved into a townhome together in downtown San Fran."

"Together always, huh?"

Anna shrugged, "Kinda like the Two Musketeers I guess. Nicky, until I met you, Bryan was the closest thing I have to family. I spent a lot of time at Bryan's house when I was a kid. Their house was the warmth I didn't have at home. It was like your parents' house. I knew the second that we drove up the driveway and your sister came out and about punctured a lung with her bear hug that I'd fit in. With my family, it was the opposite. We rarely spoke and when we did, it was forced like bad dialogue from a rotten B grade movie. With Bryan's family, it was the opposite. I slept over at Bryan's house most nights in his bed with him and my parents really didn't care and Bryan's parents were receptive to me being over there. Bryan's mother said I kept him in line in school."

"And you never, uh…"

Anna smiled, "If you're asking if we ever dated or did what I think it is you're trying to ask me, I told you, no. We never did and we never thought about it either. Bryan and I have always been best friends. His mother used to tell us that we are long lost separated twins because we're so much alike."

"Well, apart from the almost foot and a half difference in height." Bryan was about three inches taller than me and Anna was barely over five feet. It was amusing to see the two of them standing next to each other with Bryan towering over Anna even more than I did. I had almost a foot of height difference over her.

"Smartass." Anna kicked my shin under the table, "Ever hear of fraternal twins? In any event, no. Bryan and I never dated. When I slept over, we stayed in the same bed and it never bothered us. It was just a given. I even had a key to his house so after school if I wanted to go there, rather than home, I'd just let myself in. I guess you could say that was the one saving grace part of my childhood was his family which is why I chose Bryan's dad. I could tell when I called that he was flattered I asked. Bryan told me later on after we got off work that his dad started crying on the phone after I got off the phone with him. He never though I'd ask considering my own father is alive. Guess that's a good thing mine is such a frigid asshat."

I picked the wrong moment to take a drink from my Coke. "Thanks." In between coughs and trying to not drown on dry land, Anna started to laugh, "At least if I choke and start to die, you're a paramedic and can save me. Where is Bryan anyway?"

"San Francisco. They left right after we got off work to spend the holiday with Cathy's family. He'll be back in time for my shift next week." Anna turned her attention back to her wedding list she had made, "So we have Bryan's dad, Twinkies, the date, the location, my dress and our bridesmaid and groomsmen list made out. Oh, and I thought of something else." She set her pen down on top of the notebook. "As for a wedding song. Since we're going for the 'whatever works' theme with this wedding, what about 'Caledonia' rather than the traditional march?"

"Caledonia." That song definitely had a special meaning for Anna and me. "I think that'd be perfect for us. It's just…"

"Us?"

"Yeah. Us." I pulled my phone out of my pocket to call my sisters. "I suppose you want to talk to my sisters about being in the wedding?"

"Nicky..." Anna pulled my phone out of my hand and smirked, "You do realize that this phone is past its prime, right?"

I took my phone back from her, "Don't hate the phone. It rings. I can make calls and answer calls and I can text. That's fine for me."

"Nick, really. Not to be negative here, but I think I remember seeing this phone in those painting things on cave walls in Egyptian history books. Didn't Ra use this phone to call Cleopatra to set up a booty call?"

"Anna." I shook my head and laughed as I stabbed another bite of turkey with my fork, "It's official. You are the queen of sarcasm. There'll be a crowning ceremony later in the day."

Anna tossed her napkin at me, "Seriously, Nick. You need a new phone. I'm surprised there isn't a slot for quarters on the side or room for a hand crank."

I tossed her napkin back at her. "I get it. I get it." I scrolled through my address book until I found Jillian's number. "You want to talk to her?" I held the phone out towards Anna and she shook her head.

"Nicky!"

"Jillian." I put my fork down on my plate, knowing this was going to be a long, long conversation, "Happy Day of the Bird."

"You too, little brother. How are you?"

"Fine. We're all fine. Ryan and I are going to his parents' house after while for supper. What about you and my future sister in law? Not coming to Texas are you?"

"I wish. I have to work tonight and Anna just got off work this morning. Speaking of Anna, she has something she wants to ask you."

"Tell her whatever it is, I said yes."

I laughed as I handed the phone to Anna and listened to her end of the conversation. I could tell Jillian's response on the phone by the shrieking sounds and the fact that Anna had to hold the phone away from her ear to keep from losing her hearing. "So the wedding is May tenth. When can you come out for your dress fitting and all that?" Anna started writing in her notebook again, "My schedule is pretty flexible. I'm on two days, off four days. I can't vouch for Nicky though. They've been shorthanded at the lab lately and he's been working on his off days." Anna reached over for her phone and started scrolling through her calendar, "Sounds good to me. I'll be getting off that morning, so I'll be off the next four days. That'll give us enough time to find your dress." She looked up at me and smiled, "Yeah. I'm sure that we can work that out too and you can take Allison's back and she can have it fitted in Texas."

I went back to eating while Anna and my sister finished up their call. They were just ending the call when I got up to get another plate of food. I turned to watch Anna and crashed into someone in front of me, "Excuse m..." I turned to see who I ran in to and saw it was Detective Vartann. "Hey. Sorry about that."

He shook his head, "No problem. Happy Thanksgiving, Nick."

"You too." I was just about to excuse myself and finish filling my plate when Catherine came up behind me and hugged me. "Cath. Hey."

"Happy Thanksgiving, Nick." Catherine looked around the restaurant, "Anna here?"

I motioned over my shoulder, "Yeah. She's over there. She was talking to my sister about wedding plans. Are you two here together?"

Throughout our conversation, Vartann stayed by Catherine's side. She looked over at Vartann, who was slightly flushed at my comment, "Yeah. We're, um, eating here for lunch."

Not wanting to embarrass either one of them any farther, I suggested that since seating was at a premium today that they sit with us, "I'm sure Anna won't mind."

Catherine looked at Vartann who said that was fine and together, we made our way back to my table. "Happy Thanksgiving."

Anna looked up and smiled, "Catherine. Hey. I'm actually glad you're here."

I moved my drink to the same side of the table as Anna as Vartann and Catherine sat across from us, "Anna, I don't think you've met Detective Vartann. Lou, this is Anna, Nick's fiancée. Anna, this is Lou."

He stretched his arm across the table and shook Anna's hand, "Well, not officially anyway. I've seen you at some scenes, but we're not there long enough to get acquainted. Nice to finally meet you though."

"Anna works for the LVFD. That's how she and Nicky met. She saved his bacon when he about killed himself tripping over a flower pot." Catherine smiled at me, remembering the day that I met Anna, after she basically shoved me towards her. "Nick was dragging his feet. He didn't want to get help but I bet now he thanks me."

Now it was my turn to be embarrassed, "When I'm not too busy wanting to hide under the table from embarrassment. Thanks, Cath."

She smiled, "You're welcome."

"I thought you looked familiar." Vartann unfolded his napkin and put it in his lap, "I've seen you out and about with the calls. You work on both the ambulance and the trucks, right?"

Anna nodded, "Yep. That's me."

Catherine had started eating while Anna and Vartann were introducing each other. "So, why are you glad to see me?"

"Well, Nicky and I have been discussing wedding plans and I had something I wanted to ask you."

"What?"

"I need a bridesmaid and…" Anna stopped when Catherine dropped her fork and started nodding her head, "I take it that's a yes?"

"It's definitely a yes. I'd love to. Love it. Love to as long as you promise not to make me wear something stupid looking."

Anna laughed, "No. Nick won't let me pick out some gaudy color for the wedding." She pulled her phone out of her pocket and after opening up the internet explorer on her phone, she opened a webpage and handed the phone across the table. "I was thinking on that for the dresses."

Catherine put on her reading glasses as she took the phone from Anna, "Love it. I love it. It's not tacky at all. Floor length which is good for me and it's simple." She took her glasses off and handed the phone across the table, but I intercepted it before Anna took it back, "Nick."

"What?" I wanted to see the phone so I could see the full dress. "Anna won't show me her bridal gown so I have a right to see what the bridesmaids are wearing." I scrolled through the page and zoomed in on the picture of the dress Anna had chosen. I had to hand it to her as the one she picked out was a decent dress. I actually liked it. The dress she picked out had a sweetheart neckline with, according to the description, a Grecian-inspired draped bodice that had a pleated waist. "I like it. Since you won't show me yours, I guess I know what everyone else will be wearing."

Anna took her phone back from me, "I told you that I'm not showing you. It's bad juju and we've had enough bad juju to last us the next lifetime. I'm not risking it."

Catherine stabbed a bite of her turkey, "I like it and you better not show Nick what your dress looks like. That's a cute dress though, especially like the part that it's a sweetheart neckline and floor length. What color? Are you going for the black in the picture or something different?"

"Nope. Something different. I couldn't do black at a wedding." Anna shook her head, "I like the dark purple color. I think the bridal shop called it lapis but I'm from Arkansas and we don't use fancy words like that. I call it dark purple. Nick's sister will be here around the first of the year to get hers fitted. The shop on the strip where I got my dress from has these in stock. If you can swing it during the time Jillian is here, you can go with us and I can fit you for yours, too. I was gonna talk to Sara as well about being one."

"Have you asked Sara yet?"

Anna shook her head, "Not yet. I work next week and I was gonna ask her then whenever I get a chance to stop by the lab or get Nick to have her stop by the station or something. You're the first one I've asked besides Nick's sisters. My work husband's wife knew she was gonna be in the wedding since the day Nick and I told her and Bryan that we were engaged."

"So, the whole CSI crew is gonna be in the wedding?" Vartann looked at Anna, "How many bridesmaids are you having?"

"There's gonna be Nick's two sisters plus Catherine, Sara and my best friend's wife who will be my maid of honor. Nick wanted his brother, my best friend Bryan, plus Grissom, Warrick and Greg in the wedding as groomsmen so I had to come up with more bridesmaids."

"Anna and I got a kick out of the fact that there will be more people in the wedding party than in attendance, but since we're basically breaking all the traditional wedding rules anyway, we figured why not."

"Hey, it's your wedding. Do what you want." Catherine swallowed more of her food, "I always said if I got married again, I'm getting married on one of the gondolas that circles the Venetian."

Vartann choked on a bite of his turkey, "Sorry. That just caught me off guard. A gondola ride wedding?"

Catherine shrugged, "This is Vegas. If you can get married in an alien costume by Elvis and Priscilla Presley wannabes, then you should be able to get married in a gondola."

"Oh you can get married in a gondola." Anna got her phone back out and showed Catherine another web page, "I already checked into those, but they only allow one guest in the boat and I'd have a hard time picking between Bryan and Nick's mother who threatened to tan his hide if she wasn't invited so the Little Chapel of the Flowers won out, plus you can broadcast the service on the internet which is good because I doubt my family shows up."

"I was right. Ha." Catherine looked at the web page with the gondola weddings on it and handed Anna back her phone after she was done, "I'm so sorry, Anna, about your family being difficult. Nick told me that they are a bit hard to deal with."

Anna looked at me and I could tell by the way she was looking at me that she wanted me to answer Catherine's question. "Toxic personality that is borderline radioactive is one way to word it." I remembered the icy stare that Sam was giving me when Anna told her sister I was taking her back. "I've only met Anna's sister but that was enough."

I looked over as Anna cut up another bite of her turkey as I watched her try to fight the emotions I knew she was feeling. When she started carving her turkey a little more forcefully than necessary, I put my hand on her thigh under the table to calm her down. She dropped her knife to her plate and poked her turkey with her fork, "They are but they're still my family. I guess I love them but I don't have to like them but we're not close at all. That's why Bryan's father is gonna walk me down the aisle I think. My own father said he couldn't get time off from work. I bet he didn't even ask, but who cares. I spent more time at Bryan's house when I was younger than I did at my own. Bryan's parents practically raised me."

"I'm so sorry, Anna. I really am. I've met Nicky's mother a time or two and she's a wonderful person. I'm sure they'll welcome you into their home."

"They already have. My own parents and sisters ignored me when we were in Texas back in the summer. I hadn't seen them in months and instead of fawning over me, I was ignored and they loved Anna." Anna smiled at me, grateful for the change of pace to the conversation, "Everything will work out."

"Catherine hasn't told me yet, but when's the wedding? Is it soon?"

Anna looked over at Vartann, "It's May 10th. Nick's parents got married on that date and I thought it'd be nice to honor them and you're invited if you can get off work. It's at three in the afternoon. We'll send out invitations eventually, but since you're here, you're invited."

"Well, thank you." Vartann nodded in appreciation before he turned his attention back down to his food.

"Marrying on Nick's parents' anniversary is sweet actually. You got plans for the rest of the day since your family isn't here?" Catherine stopped and took a drink of her tea, "Football?"

"No football. I actually can't stand football unless it's college football and even then it has to be Razorback ball or I don't care. Nicky and I were leaving here in a bit and heading to a Wranglers game then Nicky has to work but I don't."

"Rub it in, honey. I'll be there right beside him." Catherine laughed, "Let's just hope it's an easy night."

Realizing what time it was, we finished eating and got ready to leave. The game was in under an hour and Anna wanted to get there early enough to stop by and sign herself up for a few shifts at the arena before it started. When it came time to leave, Catherine and Vartann went in one direction while Anna and I went in another. "So how is your Thanksgiving so far? Is it depressing?'

"It does suck being away from my parents, but no. It's not depressing. Any day I get to spend with you is never a bad day" I shook my head at Anna's question, "This is different for me. Usually, I've got football at home at my parents' house consisting of oversized troglodytes bashing each others brains in for five minutes during the course of sixty minutes of clock time, and my extended family also known as the people that you forget about during the year except when you have to get together to celebrate the fact you share a last name."

"Ah, it can't be all that bad. I bet the Thanksgivings at the Stokes house were infamous in their own right."

I opened the door and helped Anna in the truck, "Yeah. Between the football games, the Texas/Texas A&M arguments and the food, it was fun." As soon as she sat down, I held on to her hand and kissed the top of it, "But I would much rather be here with you. We have a wedding to plan."

Insert begging for reviews line here.

If you're in the mood for some lighthearted silly fluff, go check out my crackfic about what would happen if our CSIs joined Facebook.