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.

33. In Your Eyes

Chapter 33 – In Your Eyes

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. I'm just borrowing them for a while. I promise to return them when I'm done. Really. Well, except Nick. He's mine. I'd claim George Eads also, but he got married in July or so his publicist says. le Sigh.

Nick

"This is it." I looked down at the piece of paper in my hands before looking at Anna, "Our marriage license."

"Yeah, just don't lose it."

"Asshat." Anna playfully smacked Bryan across his shoulder, "He won't lose it. That's why I trust him with it and not you. You'd turn it into a paper airplane and fly it down the aisle after the service for the minister to sign."

"My work wife knows me well."

Bryan had come along to be our witness. It was May 7th and Anna was at work but managed to break away for the half an hour it took to come to the Clark County Courthouse to pick up our license. In order to be able to leave for our top secret honeymoon, she had to work the two days before our wedding but would be off on the day before, otherwise we'd have to get married on the 10th and Anna would have to work for two days before we'd be able to leave on the 13th. In order for Bryan to be off for the wedding, he had to work the same shift on the ambulance as Anna.

After showing our IDs to the clerk and swearing that we were who we said we were and Bryan swearing we were telling the truth, I forked over the $60 and walked away with a legal binding document telling me that I could now legally marry Anna any time in the next three months. It was all hitting me and now I was getting nervous that our wedding was in three days.

I kissed Anna and told her I loved her and said I'd see her in a couple days at home when she got off work but Bryan had other plans, "No you won't. Aggie is coming home with me after work. It's bad luck to see the bride day before the wedding."

"Frog, we've broken every wedding tradition already. I doubt if another day matters." Anna was protesting, but Bryan was shaking his head, "Don't shake your head at me. He's my fiancé."

He was holding steadfast, "And you're my best friend and I'm not letting you break this one. You didn't let me see Cathy before we were married and I'm not letting you see CSI Man."

"Weren't you drunk in Anna's bathroom throwing up?" I remembered Anna telling me Bryan had quite the bachelor's party and wound up drunk as a skunk and swearing he was about to die.

"Touché, but that's beside the point. Aggs is coming home with me. Cathy will make sure she's at that chapel on time to get married. You and I will enjoy your bachelor's party and I'll get Cathy, your sisters and Jenna to take care of Aggie."

"Jenna?" Now it was my turn to be confused, "Who?"

"Bryan's sister Jennifer. As you can tell, he doesn't call anyone by their given names. Why can't I go home with Nick?" Anna folded her arms across her chest, "It's my life."

"It may be, but no." He stood between Anna and me as he turned his attention back to me, "So technically, you can come by and see Aggs today and tomorrow at work, but not when she gets off work on the 9th. At 12:01 AM on the 9th, I will tell everyone in the station you can't come by or call. When we get off work, she'll be with Cathy, Jenna and your sisters then and I won't let you through the front door, even if I have to equip Cody with his Super Soaker."

I had to smile, "Fine. God forbid I get attacked by a five year old with a squirt gun. I'm heading home to take a nap then to the airport to pick up my parents who are flying in with Jillian and Ryan. Chris and Allison plus Riley and Jason will be here on the 9th and my brother and Marissa and their baby will be here tomorrow night I think. They're driving up. I'll call you later. I'm sure Jillian will want to stop by the station to say hi to her newest sister."

"My parents will be here tomorrow also and Cathy's family is already here at my house. Just make sure it's before the cut off time if you come with her. If I have to stuff Aggie in a locker, I will. You're not seeing her. Your parents, sisters and brother can, but you can't and no photographs either."

The pain on Anna's face was evident as we were discussing family members being here. Anna knew all along that her parents wouldn't show up, but I knew deep down, she had some glimmer of hope that when the big day came, they'd be there in the audience, but this morning before work, something told me that the last glimmer she had went out. I asked Anna how she was doing with that, but all she did was shrug her shoulders. I didn't press her anymore. She was covering up her emotions with a sarcastic look as she rolled her eyes at Bryan, "Gee thanks. I'll be stuffed in a locker to keep from being able to see Nick."

Anna's radio interrupted our time together, "Medic 78!"

"le Damn." Anna reached for her radio, "Go for 78." She kissed me before she and Bryan ran back to the ambulance parked near the entrance to the courthouse.

I put the marriage license in the glove box of my Tahoe and made a mental note to put it in my truck when I got home since we'd be leaving that at the airport to catch a flight for Hawaii. I was assured by my sister after me thinking that it was too clichéd for a honeymoon that Anna would love it. She had never been and I had never been either so I booked the flight to leave the morning after our wedding. I decided to book a room at the Venetian for the night and leave for the airport the next day. We'd arrive later that day and check in to the hotel and spend a week and a half on the white sandy beaches of Honolulu. I smiled to myself as I backed out of the parking spot remembering Jillian's request to get Dog the Bounty Hunter's autograph should Anna and I run into him while we were down there.

Two days later, I got a text from Anna letting me know that Cathy was going to bring her truck home after she got off work later that afternoon. Shortly after that, I got a call from Bryan saying he was commandeering Anna's phone and she wasn't allowed to call anyone who might put her on the phone with me. I promised to send Jillian and Allison to Bryan's house so they could spend the night with them, leaving the men at our house. Anna just made me promise not to tear up the house and any damage done better be fixed by the time we got back from wherever we were going.

When Anna threatened to jump out of the truck if Bryan didn't let her talk to me, he finally consented and handed her the phone saying she had three minutes. She grabbed the phone from me and told me to talk fast as Bryan was timing us, "I love you. It's your official last day as Meri-Anna Gabrielle Gigandet."

"Tomorrow I'll be Anna Stokes. Finally I'll have a last name people can pronounce." Bryan said something in the background I didn't quite catch and Anna groaned, "Bryan said he's still gonna call me Aggie because he can't think of anything else to call me after I shot down the name Assie."

"Assie?"

"My name will be Anna Stokes. My original nickname was AG which morphed into Aggie. AS would eventually morph into Assie thanks to Bryan suggesting everyone calling me that." I heard Bryan laughing in the background, "I shot that one down and he was a little upset."

She started to debate with Bryan on giving him the phone and managed to tell me she loved me again before he got it back, "That's it. No more conversations with Aggie. It's the day before your wedding and the tradition is now in effect. You better be dying, dead, bleeding or on fire if you call again. If the situation is emergent enough, I'll consider telling her, otherwise you can tell her yourself tomorrow."

"And if Anna suddenly combusts into flames or her arm falls off?"

"I'm a fireman and my wife is a nurse. We can handle it. Goodbye CSI Man."

I tossed the phone in my cup holder when Bryan hung up on me. When my sisters went over to Cathy and Bryan's I'd get them to check on Anna to make sure she was amongst the living.

I told everyone at work I didn't want strippers at home for my party, but Warrick and Greg showed up and drug me into town while mom and dad offered to babysit so we could go out.

Bryan met us at the casino with my brother and Ryan and I was forced to sit through an evening planned out by my evil co-workers which eventually brought us back to the same karaoke bar that we were at on Anna's birthday. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that we managed to avoid strip clubs and women taking their clothes off for money, though liberal amounts of alcohol were consumed by all. Bryan stayed sober to drive one group of us home and Warrick called Tina to bring the rest of us back to Summerlin safely.

After surviving on less than two hours' worth of sleep, I was even more surprised to wake up and not have a pounding hangover headache. I drug myself to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face and stared at my reflection in the mirror before turning and leaving the bathroom, crashing into my brother in the hallway, "Morning."

"Morning." Tyler handed me a coffee cup with fresh coffee in it, "Just in case you've got a hangover. My head was hurting this morning."

Taking a sip of coffee as we moved farther away from the bedroom where my parents were staying, I said I didn't have a headache strangely enough but when Ryan came up front looking like a corpse, I had to laugh, "Apparently not all of us can handle our alcohol."

Ryan poured himself a cup of coffee and took a long drink before he asked where the Tylenol was. I reached in the cabinet in the kitchen and tossed the bottle to him and watched as he popped a couple of pills, "Your sister will kill me."

Tyler shook his head, "No she won't. You'll be fine by three."

My parents woke up and came up front and my mother insisted on cooking us all breakfast. Bryan was staying in the fourth bedroom with the dogs and Danilla who had hid in the closet when my parents got here. I heard the bedroom door open and the sound of claws on the hardwood floor and braced myself for two dogs bounding up front, but Bryan had them both on leashes and started lead them outside to play before he joined us in the kitchen. Draco skidded to a stop as Bryan was leading them outside and started to growl at all the people in her house before I silenced her.

My mother's breakfast was wonderful. After we were all finished, Bryan excused himself to call Cathy to check on the girls, "I'm going outside. Someone sit on Nick. I don't want him talking to Aggie."

"Aggie?" Ryan was confused, "Who?"

"Anna. It's a station nickname for my future wife." I contemplated locking Bryan outside in the carport, but I changed my mind and went to take a shower.

Leaning my hands on the back of the shower wall, I let the hot water hit the top of my head and run down my body. My eyes were closed as I tried to keep the nausea in check.

"Nick!"

I shook my head and stepped back from the stream of water, "Yeah?"

Tyler stuck his head in the door, "Hurry up. Mom wants to get pictures of us getting ready before we leave. She's heading to the salon where your wife to be is to get photos in a few."

I shut the shower curtain and said I'd be done in a bit and stepped back into the hot water and sighed as I wondered what Anna was doing.

Anna

"Ouch."

"Sorry." The hairstylist was pinning my hair up behind my head and had stabbed me in the ear with a bobby pin. She and Cathy continued chatting as I stared at myself in the mirror. My veil was on top of the stylist's counter, but I had decided at the last minute to allow Bryan to put it on me since I knew my father wouldn't be here.

With my hair being naturally curly, all the stylist had to do was figure out how to pull all my hair up. I hadn't gotten a haircut in some time and my hair was about halfway down my back which gave the stylist plenty of material to work with. I zoned out and closed my eyes as she twisted another section of hair up and stabbed me once again in the scalp with a bobby pin. It was going to take me an hour just to pull the pins out of my hair after the wedding. Nick hadn't told me where we were going for the honeymoon, only that he was packing my bags for me. If we were flying, I'd get stopped by the TSA after the metal detectors went off. I started to smile at the thought of getting hung up by TSA on my honeymoon because of the bobby pins in my hair.

"Anna?"

I opened my eyes and looked for Cathy. She told me that Jillian had shown up with Allison and Marissa and they were standing behind the stylist's chair and were watching me get my hair styled. Mom came in shortly after with a camera and started taking shots, "I did the same thing to Nicholas a bit ago."

"How is he?"

"No!" Jillian stopped Mom before she could answer, "Tyler already stopped Nick from asking Mom about you and I'm not gonna let you ask about him. He still has a pulse and that's all we're telling you."

I sighed as I turned my attention back to my hands and started to fidget with my engagement ring as I felt the stylist still yanking on my hair. After about thirty minutes, she announced I was done and I looked up, "Perfect." I told her I didn't want anything filled with hairspray or some beehive hairdo, and she didn't disappoint me. She had twisted the sides of my hair back and put it in a loose bun at the nape of my neck. I had enough room for the veil and as Cathy added the tiara that she insisted I wear to my hair that went with the veil, I stood up and used the handheld mirror the stylist gave me to check out the back, "I love it."

Mom took her time taking snapshots of me with the embarrassed stylist plus everyone else. The stylist even took one with Mom in it plus one of just Cathy and me. I'd add that one to my collection in the bookcase at home.

Jillian, Marissa and Allison split the cost of my hairstyle as their wedding present to me before they started to take me to the chapel to get dressed. Mom rode to the chapel with Marissa, Jillian and Allison and I said I wanted to ride with Cathy. My wedding dress was in the back seat of Cathy's truck and I was too scared to turn around and look at it. I kept my mind focused on keeping my eyes closed as she followed the four of them to the chapel parking lot.

"He's not here yet."

I opened my eyes and blinked as they adjusted to the bright sunlight, "Who?"

"Your husband and mine. Bryan just texted me and said he and Nick were bringing his truck up here and I don't see it which means we've got to get you inside before they get here." Cathy opened her door and I slowly opened the passenger door and held on to it, but it was flung open when Jillian reached in and grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me out of Cathy's truck, warning me that Nick was on his way up here with the boys and for me to hurry up and get in.

I looked back in time to see Allison helping Cathy with my dress while Mom held onto the bridesmaids' dresses with both of her hands as she told me Catherine and Sara would be up here in a little bit to get dressed with the rest of us.

"Anna!" Marissa shoved me towards the door, "Get in!"

"What?"

Jillian grabbed my wrist again and pulled me up to the side door of the chapel, "Nick's here and you're not seeing him. They came around the front entrance and not this way so he didn't see you but I saw his truck so get in." She pulled me inside and had me stand against the wall behind her while Allison and Cathy brought in my wedding gown and Mom brought in the bridesmaids gowns. "We made it." She let out a sigh of relief as she led me towards the dressing room, "Time to put your dress on."

Nick

Bryan was laughing behind me but I didn't know why, "Your sisters. I hope they didn't dislocate Aggie's shoulder pulling her in the door like that."

"She's here?" I looked over to where Bryan was looking but all I saw was Cathy's truck and my sister's rental car, "Where?"

"Nope." Tyler stood between me and the line of sight I had, "They're already inside and thank God you're oblivious or you would have seen her."

I stared at the empty lot and felt a little better knowing that for once in her life, Anna was here and would probably be on time with my sisters, Cathy and my mother helping her.

Tyler held the door open for us and my dad stepped in first, followed by Bryan, Ryan and me. The minister was waiting for us at the front lobby of the chapel, "Nick Stokes?"

"Yeah."

"Justin Cain. I'll be officiating today." He held his hand out and I shook it, "Your fiancé's last name is pronounced how?"

"Gih-gawn-day." The chaplain looked at me blankly until I repeated it a few more times, slowly, hoping that when he said her name, he wouldn't butcher it.

"I think I have it, even if I do have to just write it out phonetically so I don't mess up. I'm about to go sign the marriage license and it'll be in the folder with the rest of the paperwork from today's service."

"Great." I swallowed hard, hoping I wasn't about to throw up. I watched as Justin left us alone in the foyer of the chapel we were using and headed towards the back of the building.

I turned around in time to see Bryan hugging someone I didn't know. When the man reached for me and hugged me as well, I guessed that he was Bryan's dad. "You must be Anna's special someone."

I wasn't sure if my voice would work right after almost being crushed to death in this man's grip and waited on Bryan to introduce us, "Dad, this is CSI Man, Aggie's fiancé. CSI Man, this is my dad, Jeff."

Holding out my hand, I expected another handshake, but what I got was another spine crushing hug, "Anna's very special to me but I know you know that already. Hurt her, and I'll kill you." Jeff let me go, "Got it?"

I looked over at Bryan who had the same look on his face that his dad did. Clearly they had been discussing this behind my back. I knew that Bryan considered Anna his sister and most of Anna's childhood stories had Bryan and his family interwoven into them, so I knew Jeff though of Anna as another daughter. "You have absolutely nothing to worry about. I love Anna with everything I have."

"Good enough for me."

"Mom!" Bryan held the door open for his mother, "Mom, this is CSI Man. Aggie's fiancé."

Rather than another hug, Bryan's mother was slightly more reserved than her son or husband, "Mary Brooks. It's so nice to finally meet you."

"Likewise. I was told Jenna is with Anna?" I was trying to be sly about getting information about Anna, "She's here?"

"CSI Man, no." Bryan interrupted, "You're not getting any information about Aggie. You've got less than two hours to go. You'll survive."

I was introduced to Jenna just long enough for her to come get Mary before they left us in the foyer. Tyler found the dressing room we were supposed to be using at the front of the chapel. I tried to sneak a glance towards the side of the chapel where Anna was, but the windows were frosted and I couldn't make anything out.

Greg, Grissom and Warrick had shown up by then and as the introductions were done once again, I sat down in the small bathroom and stared at my tuxedo. "Bryan!"

He knocked on the bathroom door, "You're not unloading in there, are you?"

I turned the knob and opened the door, "No. I was just making sure you have the rings. Your mother was bringing the pillow thing for the rings, right?"

Bryan produced two jewelry boxes and showed me both Anna's ring and mine, "Right here. Cody just came back here and I was going to tie the rings to the pillow and practice with him. He's been practicing at home with one of his story books and a few blocks. Whether he throws the pillow at the clergyman or takes a nap on it, I guess we'll see. Now get dressed before you make us all late for your own wedding."

I got dressed slowly, making sure not to get anything on the tuxedo I had bought. I stared at my reflection in the mirror before I opened the door and stepped out. My mother had found her way inside and was taking pictures of everyone. When I came out, she told me to stand by my brother and got the customary pre-wedding shots of us all in front of the stained glass window in the room. Finally, for her last shot, she got all of the men in line and took a few shots of that. Anna and I didn't hire a professional photographer, but rather we gave disposable cameras to a few people in the audience. I had given one to Ecklie and one Sofia Curtis and hoped that as many photographs that we took on a daily basis that the ones they took would come out well.

The wedding chapel provided a photographer for parts during the ceremony for the ring exchange, the vow exchange and the first kiss, but other shots such as the bridal party, the groomsmen and the photo of Anna and me after we were married were extra. I threw in the extra money for that and hoped the shots would come out. Part of the package I had bought with our honeymoon suite at the Venetian included a few wedding shots of just the two of us in the gardens at the hotel and Anna didn't know about that part yet.

I was staring absentmindedly into space when Bryan asked how I was doing, "I'm okay I think. Just trying not to throw up."

He smiled, "You'll be fine I promise. I was a nervous wreck before Cathy and I got married."

"You didn't throw up?"

"Nope." He shook his head, "Oh, and one more thing." Bryan turned to look at me before he left the side room of the chapel, "I know my dad already mentioned this, but I will too. Hurt Aggie and so help me God, I'll kill you myself and run your body through a wood chipper. Got it?"

"Bryan…"

"Nick, I mean it. Along with Cathy and my son, Anna is the most important person in my life. I've always been her protector of sorts since her own family really didn't give a damn about her as evident by their lack of support today. I know she loves you and you her or you wouldn't be here, but don't hurt her or I will hurt you back. Got it?"

I felt a slight pang of jealousy to hear Bryan use Anna's given name and how he described her, especially now. He rarely if ever used her given name and he only used mine when he was being serious and this was one of those times, "I have no intention on hurting her or ever leaving her." I held out my hand, "You have my word. As a fellow southerner, you know that a man's word and a handshake are golden."

He shook my hand and smiled, relaxing his attitude, "That's all I need. Now before we start, I have to go threaten Aggie and put her veil on. I told her I'd do the honors. Be right back." Bryan put his hand on my shoulder as he left the room to go check on Anna, leaving me alone, wishing I could hug her knowing she had to be upset over her parents not being here.

Pacing around in circles, I started to get nervous. This was it. I was about to get married. Exhaling a sharp breath as I sat down, my nerves calmed down. "Nick?"

I looked up to see my brother coming in as I sat down, "Yeah?"

Tyler let himself in and took a seat on the bench next to me, "Nervous?"

I shook my head. The feelings I had moments earlier were gone, "Oddly enough, I'm not. Should I be?"

"I wasn't when I married Marissa. When it's the right one, you'll know. If you're not nervous, then you're making the right decision. I haven't spent that much time around Anna, but I can see she loves you and you love her. That's all that matters."

Anna

"Arms out." I did as I was told as Cathy and Jillian were helping me step into my dress. Keeping my eyes shut, I didn't want to see what I looked like until I was done. I felt Jillian sliding the dress up my body and sucked in my breath as she tied the ties on the back of it. "Done."

As my eyes opened, Cathy was standing to my left and Jillian was on my right. My dress fit beautifully. "Wow." Turning slowly so I could see the back, Cathy picked up my train so I wouldn't step on it. Out of all the ones I tried on, it was the one I liked the best. The dress I had chosen was ivory colored and had a faux wrap that cinched at my waist. The bodice and skirt were accented with beaded ribbon and the gown had a break-front skirt with beautiful hand beaded accents sewn into the opened area that matched the accents on the ribbons. The one thing I did want was a long train and this one had a long train that started just below the lace up ribbon ties. I had opted for the lace ties rather than the traditional zipper closure in the back to make it more personalized for my tastes.

"My brother is a lucky man. If he hurts you, I'll jump up and down on him." Jillian made a move for my veil but I stopped her, "What? You want to do it yourself?"

"Bryan said he was going to do that." I took the veil from Jillian, "He gets to do the honors since…"

I didn't need to finish my statement before Cathy put her arms around my waist, "He'll be here in a minute to help, or I should say he'll be here in a minute to put the clips where I tell him." She produced two Swarovski crystal hair clips, "And I get these back. This is your borrowed part for your wedding. I wore these when I married Bryan. Cody took care of the new and Nick's family is handling the old part and Bryan has the blue."

Jillian handed me a pair of pearl drop earrings, "This is the old part. These were our grandmother's and I wore them when I got married as did Marissa and Allison. It's your turn now. Call it a Stokes family tradition."

"What about the new and blue part?"

"That'd be me."

I put on one of the earrings Jillian had given me as Bryan came in, "Do I even want to know?" I thought for a moment while I put on the other earring, "No stuffed animals, sashes or spray paint, right?"

"No. You get this." He held out his blue scene tag from the fire department. "This is the blue."

"Bryan." I took the tag from him, "Really? Your scene tag?"

"It's blue."

"I'm not colorblind."

He actually looked a little hurt about something when I took the tag from him, "Cathy wouldn't let me get what I wanted."

I must have looked horrified because she laughed, "He wanted me to get this stupid electric blue striped pair of socks with rainbow colored toes to wear with your shoes. I put my foot down because of the shoes you're wearing."

Bryan perked up, "So I bought them anyway and gave them to CSI Man's brother to give to him after the wedding for your honeymoon. He told me where you're going and I was told you'd need them."

"Thanks." I started to think of places I'd need electric blue socks, "I think."

"Relax." Cathy laughed, "He doesn't know where you're going either. Nick wouldn't tell anyone."

The shoes I had chosen to wear with my dress were open toed, silk satin ivory colored strappy sandals that had a bevy of rhinestone starbursts that cascaded into the crisscross straps. Since I was so short, I opted for a taller heel that was almost three inches. I just hoped I wouldn't trip and fall and kill myself walking down the aisle.

"So since my wife vetoed my idea, you get my LVFD scene tag for the blue and this…" He handed me a small black box, "This is the new. These are from Cody. He picked them out."

I clipped the scene tag to the inside of my dress and hoped it wouldn't leave a bump. Opening the box, I found a pair of diamond stud earrings. "Beautiful." I took one of the earrings out of the box and put it in my second earlobe hole, "Guess it's a good thing I've got more than one hole in my ears."

"This was why we got you the extra set of earrings since you have enough holes in each ear to wear them in. I told Cody about Nick's family tradition with the earrings, but he was adamant about earrings for the new part for your wedding. He wouldn't look at anything else."

"Thanks." After putting on the second earring, I realized it was almost time. The clock above the mirror read 2:45. In fifteen minutes, I'd be on my way to being married. "Veil time?"

"Yeah." Bryan took the clips from Cathy and started to pin them inside my veil, "Anna."

Him using my given name sounded weird, "You never use my given name. When we were younger I was Gabby and now I'm Aggie."

He shrugged as he continued to try to get the clips in my veil straight. Cathy started to try to help but Bryan turned around. In the light of the room we were in, I caught the reflection of a tear against my best friend's cheek. Knowing Bryan as well as I did, I knew better than to call attention to the situation.

With a heavy sigh, Bryan turned to face me with my veil in one hand and the borrowed hair clips in the other, "Before I do this, two things." He handed both clips to Cathy as Jillian stood behind me to help Bryan get my veil in place, "First, your father should be doing this. He's a massive asshat for not being here. Rest assured if I ever see him again, he'll hear about it. I know people say 'you can't choose your family' but what you can do is look deeper than the dinner table, beyond the DNA and redefine the word. No one knows that better than you do and you've done that with my family and with me." With Jillian helping settle the veil in between the mass of bobby pins holding up my hair, he took one of the clips from Cathy and slid it gently in my hair, "And again now with marrying Nick. Hit me if I hurt you. Adding in to my earlier statement..."

I interrupted, "So we're on idea number one, part B?"

Bryan smiled, "Smartass. Yes. We're at idea number one, part B." Cathy handed him the second clip and he pinned it in my hair. Jillian fluffed the toile behind me as he continued, "I'm honored that you chose me to do this before your wedding and if I wasn't standing with CSI Man, I'd walk you down the aisle."

"You can." I looked around Cathy to the mirror behind her so I could see how I looked in my veil. "This is my wedding. I want you on one side of me and your father on the other. He can run and tell Nicky what's going on." Bryan looked like he wanted to argue with me, but I didn't give him the chance, "This is something I want. You've been at my side every day of my life and with me through everything." I took Bryan's left hand in mine, "I want you next to me now."

Bryan was on the verge of tears but covered it up with a cough, "Fine." After Jillian volunteered to go tell her brother the news, he continued, "The second thing is this and this is important, so pay attention: You've found what so few people have. You've got your partner with Nick. He's your other half." Reaching for my other hand, he looked at me, "So help me God, if you ever do something stupid like leave him again, I will find you. I will hunt you down like a lion looking for dinner. I will haunt you in your dreams until you wake up in your bed with your sheets soaked through because you wet yourself from the nightmares I gave you from my promise of hunting you down." He gave both my hands a squeeze, "Got it?"

"You..." I thought back to last year when I bolted after I got shot, "You have nothing to worry about."

"Okay. Here's to the best friend I've ever had and will ever even hope to have. I have the two most important women in my life in this room. You're a girl for whom no man will ever be good enough. I hope you know that I love you and I wish for you nothing but a lifetime of happiness and if you do anything to screw it up, I'll kick your ass like it's never been kicked before." He kissed me gently on the forehead, being careful not to smudge my makeup, "Now. Let's go get you hitched so you can be like me only you'll have a work husband and a real husband."

I dropped Bryan's hands and playfully shoved him as Jillian and Mom came in with Catherine and Sara. Cathy found Cody and Lindsey on the opposite side of the chapel and herded them back with us to await on our start time.

We crammed into the tiny foyer of the Little Chapel of the Flowers room that we were using. The chapel itself was fairly decent sized and could handle close to 150 guests. Nick and I had no where near that amount. The white doors were closed and I stood with my eyes shut tightly as I tried to keep from crying. Looking outside towards the parking lot, I smiled when I saw four fire trucks and two ambulances. My co-workers who I considered my extended family, would be here for me.

Catherine was on one side of me giving Lindsey last minute pointers on the flowers. I knew Cathy was right beside me and Bryan was on the other side. Cody was next to Lindsey and was balancing the pillow with our rings on it using one hand. When he started to swing it around by the corner, Cathy stopped him. I could just see the string on the rings coming loose and our rings flying into oblivion.

Bryan said that his dad was up front with Nick's family and was making his way to the back of the chapel where we were. I heard the side door opening and looked over and saw Jeff coming towards me. After he kissed his daughter in law and then me, he took his place on my left as Bryan took his place on my right. Cathy, Catherine, Allison, Sara and Jillian were in front of me and as the opening notes of Caledonia played, I tensed up. "Nervous yet?"

I lied, "I run into burning buildings for a living. I don't get nervous." I felt my heart rate increase and my breathing begin to become a little more labored. I was nervous, but I knew I had no reason to be. I loved Nicky and he loved me. I kept telling myself over and over again I was doing the right thing and we would be fine.

"So that means?" At this point, I wasn't sure if my voice would work right and Bryan noticed. "You look like you're about to puke." Shaking my head again, Bryan laughed, "You'll be fine. If you faint, I'll catch you."

"And if I throw up?"

"AMYOYO, Aggs."

"AMYOYO?" Cathy turned around and looked confused, "Do I want to know?"

"Alright, mothereffer, you're on your own. It's a term we use a lot at work for combative patients."

Ignoring Bryan's comment, Cathy, as my matron of honor, stood in front of me. Sara went out the door first, followed by Catherine, Allison and Jillian. When it was Cathy's turn to leave, she told me she loved me and took a deep breath before she started walking towards the front of the chapel. I watched from my vantage point as she confidently took her steps in time with the music. I was hidden behind one of the doors so Nick couldn't see me in my gown. We had broken every wedding tradition in the books, but the one tradition I refused to break was him seeing me in my dress before I walked down the aisle.

"Anna?" Jeff nudged me in the side to let me know that Cathy had taken her place on the altar. "It's almost time for you to go after Cody and Lindsey get up there."

When they were done, Bryan pulled on me. Forgetting momentarily how to walk, my shoes felt like they each weighed a thousand pounds. Bryan whispered in my ear that I was supposed to pick one up, bend my knee and put it back down, "Then you do it with the other foot." His description caused me to let a small laugh escape and after that, I felt better. I knew in my heart I was doing the right thing.

Nick

I was staring in the mirror in the back of the chapel, trying to keep my lunch down. My mom had decided that a heavy meal of bacon and eggs just before my wedding was a good idea but I didn't agree but with me being so nervous, I didn't have the energy to say no. Before I knew it, I had downed the entire plate and I knew I'd pay for it later on. "I will not throw up. I will not throw up."

The voices around me sounded like I was listening through a long tunnel. Grissom and Warrick were over to one side, talking with my brother and Greg. My dad was talking with Jeff and Jillian who had come in with a message from Anna earlier but I wasn't allowed to know what it was. After panic mode set in, I was assured that it wasn't that she was bolting, only that she wanted Bryan with her as she walked down the aisle. Breathing a sigh of relief, I said that was fine and Jillian left to go relay the message back to Bryan and my bride to be.

The chaplain came in and said that we'd be starting in just under a few minutes. As Justin shut the door, I caught sight of the chapel seating. There weren't but about seventy people invited to the wedding and most had shown up. Most of the people from the lab were on my side of the chapel and I was pleased to see that a lot of Anna's co-workers had taken time out of their day to come watch her, a few of them even on duty at the time. She considered them her family just like I considered the people I worked with mine.

Anna did send an invitation to her parents, but they didn't bother to come. We did get a fairly generous pre-paid Visa card from them with the explicit instructions to spend it on ourselves for our honeymoon and not the house or anything else. Anna had suggested we take it along with us on our honeymoon, and she was still clueless about where we were going. Since she spent the night at Bryan and Cathy's last night, I took it upon myself to pack a suitcase for her since I didn't want her to know where I was taking her and telling her to pack bikinis and sunscreen would give it away. I used the Visa card to upgrade our hotel room

"It's time."

Never in my life had two words hit me so hard.

A/N: As always, I appreciate any and all reviews even if it's one or two words. I work so hard on my stories and I love seeing what my readers think.

I promise not to take 2 months to update this story again. I've been dealing with writers block as well as a boatload of personal crap and haven't had the energy to write. One more chapter – at most one and a half more chapters – of wedding talk, then back to reality with Nick and the CSIs.