Chapter 13
Chapter List
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September
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Greg slipped his backpack over his shoulder and grabbed his car keys off the the hook by the mudroom door. He leaned against the stairs railing and cocked his head, "You sure you're okay with this?"
Nick rolled his eyes and pushed Greg back out into the small hallway, urging him towards the door leading to the garage, "You've known for awhile that I had the night off 'cause of my overtime. Why are you getting so uptight over it now?"
"Because I wasn't expecting to get called in early." He hit the button to open the garage door and accepted a kiss from Nick, "I'll see you tomorrow morning."
"Be good. Don't terrorize Sara or Catherine too much tonight. I don't need another phone call from a pissy assed Sara telling me I need to keep my boyfriend on a leash." Nick said with a laugh.
"Moi?" Greg pressed a hand to his chest as he backed away to his car, "I have no idea what you're talking about." He climbed into the car and started it, and with a wave to Nick, he backed out and took off.
Nick hit the button to close the garage and went back into the house, wondering where Elijah had taken off to after saying goodbye to Greg. A cursory check of the downstairs showed no sign of the active toddler and so he went up, his first stop the play room. After that proved empty, he was almost tempted to give in and use the intercom, a machine he wasn't too fond of using despite its usefulness. He decided to check his den before falling to that temptation and sure enough, that was where he found the little red-head.
Elijah had pushed his chair against one of the windows in the nook and was resting on his knees, his elbows propped on the sill as he stared outside.
"What up, little man?"
Elijah glanced at him but mainly kept his gaze outside, "whewe daddy?"
Nick bit his lip to keep from chuckling. The few times Elijah had been left in his care in the sixth months of being with Greg, Elijah always voiced that same question just after Greg left, even if Greg had told him exactly where he'd be. Seemed this time would be no exception, "Daddy's at work, Eli." Nick walked over to the nook and lifted Elijah up so he could sit down. He set Elijah on his lap and looked out the window as well, "He had to go in early tonight, remember?"
Elijah looked up at Nick, "you?"
"Me what?" Nick asked, confused.
"you wo'k?"
Nick shook his head and hugged Elijah, "Nope, not tonight. I've got the night off."
"oh." Elijah thought about this and then nodded, "k. hungwy."
"What are you hungry for?" Nick asked and stood up, still cradling Elijah in his arms.
"hot dog."
Nick snorted as he made his way downstairs. That was not a surprising choice on Elijah's end. He had had his first hot dog while they had been visiting his parents and had fallen in love with them. There had been hot dogs at his birthday party and at the barbecue a few months back, but the toddler had claimed to dislike them until he had seen Trixie eating them with much gusto.
Now, when he and Greg went shopping, they now always made sure to get at least two packages of hot dogs, whether or not they still had some at home. Of course, they inevitably went through them faster with both him and Greg snacking on them as well when they weren't in the mood to wait for food to cook.
Nick set Elijah on the island and glanced out the window, "How about we have hot dogs, chips and cottage cheese. We can eat outside."
Elijah nodded his head, "k." He certainly wasn't going to complain. Outside was outside and always a good thing to him.
Since the hot dogs didn't take very long to cook, they were on their way out to the patio within ten minutes. Nick held both plates in his hands while Elijah carried his sippy cup and a bottle of water for Nick. As Elijah settled himself on the couch, Nick took the time to check the sky.
It was getting dark and the wind was starting to pick up. He had heard the weather report earlier in the morning, but hadn't thought much about it at the time. They had only been predicting a thirty percent chance of rain at the time. Now, though, it looked like the predicted rain had quite possibly transformed into a storm. If there still hadn't been sun peaking out, he would have ushered Elijah right back inside at that moment.
He sat down, placed Elijah's plate on his lap and set about eating himself, digging his chips through the cottage cheese instead of using his fork. He swallowed his mouthful and took a drink of water before asking, "What did you do at daycare today?"
"lincon logs wif jewmy." Elijah said, chomping down on a chip at the same time.
"That's it? Just Lincoln Logs?"
"movie, nap, awt 'n cwafts." Elijah added with a shrug. He gulped down some of his apple juice and after smacking his lips a few time, he turned his brown eyes to Nick, "talk twixie?"
"Don't see why not. I'll have to call Sammy first, make sure they're home though."
Elijah popped a hot dog chunk into his mouth and nodded happily as he chewed. Nick reached over and wiped away some ketchup from around Elijah's mouth before going back to his own food.
With the anticipation of talking to his friend, Elijah had managed to inhale his food and was done eating rather quickly. Nick finished just after and they went back inside to clean up the mess from making dinner and to deposit their paper plates into the trash.
Nick closed the dishwasher door and as he turned it on, Elijah tugged at his pants leg. He looked down and laughed. Elijah was holding his cell phone up to him and bouncing in place, an eager expression on his freckled face. Nick took the phone and ran the fingers of his free hand through auburn curls, "Think you need a hair cut."
"nuh uh." Elijah said, sticking out his tongue, "want daddy's haiw."
Nick urged Elijah to start walking towards the family room as he flipped his phone open, "Little man, your hair is way too wavy to spike up like daddy's. It would look silly." He thumbed through his contacts list and pressed call on Sammy's name.
//What do you want?//
Nick let out a bark of laughter that was followed quickly by a resigned sigh, "One of these days I'm going to call off of Greg's phone. He gets a better greeting then I do."
He heard Sammy snort//Is there a reason you're actually calling or couldn't you go a week without hearing my sweet voice?//
"Bite me. I was calling to see if you were home. Eli is chomping at the bit to talk to Trixie." Nick said.
//Been home for a while, actually. Let me get the computer up.// Nick heard a whirring noise in the background as well as a chair squeaking//I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you called. Trixie has been after me all day to talk to Eli as well. I swear those two have some sort of mental link.//
"Well, it has been over a week since they last talked. To them, that's a lifetime almost." Nick rested the phone on his shoulder and hoisted Elijah up onto the leather chair in the office, before turning and hitting the power button on the computer. He grunted and reached behind him to still the legs that had just kicked him in the ass. He cast a minor glare over his shoulder at a giggling Elijah, before popping up the chat forum they used for the kids. He waved as his sisters face came into view, "My you're looking lovely today." He said with a snicker, referring to her sweats and loose, wispy ponytail.
//Shut up! God, you're horrible.//
Nick winced as he suddenly had Sammy's voice echoing around him, both from the cell phone and the speakers attached to the computer. He moved away from the desk and slid Elijah up to it. He covered the mouth piece of the phone, "I'm going to go get your sippy cup. Paper and crayons are in the drawer."
Elijah dug them out while Sammy went to get Trixie. They had realized early on in the cross-country conversations that while they never ran out of things to talk about, the two toddlers got bored and fidgety after only a short time. The drawing helped with keeping them from pressing buttons on the machines and after oohing and awing over each others pictures, they were often scanned to one another before they signed off for the night.
//So, I've got some news.//
Nick pulled the phone away and looked at it before sighing and putting it back to his ear, "Like what? You're not pregnant again, are you? 'Cause that's exactly how you started out when you told me about Dakota...and Trixie for that matter."
//Of course not. Do you think I want two babies in diapers? One's enough of a hassle.// Even as she spoke, he could hear his year old nephew begin to whimper, sounding quite close to the phone, probably due to Sammy carrying him//Oh for the love of...Nick, do not mention babies around him. He's sensitive.//
Nick carried the sippy cup back to the office and placed in on the desk next to the keyboard, pausing briefly to wave at Trixie when she looked up from her drawing. After receiving her happy squeal and wave in answer, he nudged Elijah and pointed to the library. Elijah barely spared him a glance when he caught sight of Trixie holding up a sheet of paper to the camera.
Nick rolled his eyes at Elijah's actions and walked off to the library, "Sammy, you're the one who called him a hassle."
//Keep this up and I'll call Greg and tell him the news instead.//
"C'mon. I'm your baby brother. Why do you do this to me?"
Sammy laughed//For pretty much the reason you just gave. Not to mention you're fun to wind up.//
Nick dropped down on to a chair, far enough away from the office that he couldn't hear Elijah and Trixie's talking, but close enough to keep an eye on him, "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. What's your news?"
//Kieran got the promotion. We'll be out there in a month.//
Nick, who was in the process of bringing his feet up to rest on a footstool, let them drop back to the floor as he sat up straight, "A month?"
//Problem, lil' bro'?//
"Er, no. No problem." He looked out the window and straight across the yard to where the lumber piles sat, blocking the finally dry foundation of the guest house. As he looked out, he noticed that the sky had finally turned to a full black and that it was now drizzling. The wood piles were thankfully covered with tarps, the workers taking the rain prediction seriously.
//You sure? Sounding a little uncertain there, Nick.//
Nick sighed and dropped back in the chair, "I'm sure. So is there a specific date associated with this month?"
//No, not yet. Kieran's boss said that he'd have the specifics by the end of next week. All they really know for sure is that they want him out there by mid-October in time for the November opening.//
"They want him out here before they even open?"
//Who do you think is going to be setting up the computers? The construction workers? Oh...shit, Nick I gotta go. Dakota needs a change.//
Nick laughed, "You'd think by know you could do that and talk on the phone at the same time."
//Me? Miss klutz? Yeah right. I'd probably drop the phone on my son's head. I'll talk to you later when we shut down the kids.//
"Yeah, all right. Later sis."
//Bye lil' bro'.//
Nick snapped his phone shut and leaned back in the chair. A month until they were out here and the guest house was only half done. Maybe they should have just left the furniture in his den.
-----
Greg dropped onto his chair and released a frustrated breath of air. Grissom had actually called him in early to do the weekend shifts grunt work. His boss claimed it was because they were behind, but he thought it was because Cindy was holding a grudge over the two night vacation he had taken the month before for Nick's birthday.
When he got in, she had instantly put him to work going through her backlog of paper work. Sadly, due to her filing in a completely different way than him, he had had to redo it about three times. It had taken him over an hour, but luckily, he was finally done and Cindy was out to dinner. It figured.
He swiveled his seat as he waited for her to return, hoping she didn't exceed the half an hour limit 'forced' on the lab techs. He, Archie, and Bobby were notorious when it came to over extending their breaks, especially when they went down to the diner at the end of the block. The food was fantastic there, but the wait to get it was long. He really hoped other shifts weren't like them.
Bored with the swiveling, he got up to go and make a pot of coffee. As he walked out of the DNA lab, he had to stop short as Catherine came up in front of him, "You're here early," he paused and looked her over, "and very wet."
"News flash, Greg. It's raining." As Catherine spoke, a crack of thunder erupted over them followed by a flickering of lights not even half a minute later. Catherine shook her head, "As for me being early, I got called in. Same as you it seems."
There was another crash of thunder and the lights flickered again, and the length of it happening this time was enough to concern Greg. Elijah was terrified of thunderstorms and as they hadn't gone through one in the time they'd been together, Nick had no idea. He excused himself from Catherine and went back into the lab, aiming for the phone.
Cindy walked in just as he was picking up the receiver and she punched down on the button and glared at him, "What are you doing?"
Greg scowled, "Come on Cindy, I have to call home."
"Greg, there is a ton of work that needs to be done. Justin and Keats just got back with a crap load of evidence. There isn't time for you to be making any personal calls." Cindy motioned to the two weekend CSI's that were walking towards the lab.
"It'll just take a minute. I swear."
Cindy eyed him, taking in the worried pinch around his eyes and the white knuckled grip he had on the receiver, "All right, but don't take too long." She let go of the button and walked over to meet Justin McKeats, better known as Keats, and Justin Laney at the door.
Greg sighed and punched in the number of the house, a frown making its way onto his face as he received a busy signal. He hit the button and dialed Nick's cell//We're sorry, all circuits are busy now. Please try your call again...// Greg hung up and tried the land line again. He looked up at the ceiling just as he hit the last digit and let out a long string of expletives as thunder crashed again, this time louder than before.
Just as he placed the receiver to his ear, the lights flickered for a few brief seconds before giving out completely, plunging them into darkness, "Damn it!"
-----
Nick stood at the window and watched the storm as it approached. While it was raining heavily at the moment, the thunder was still fairly quiet and the lightning was still a good distance away. It wouldn't be long, however, until it reached them. He took a sip of the coffee he had made during a chapter break in his book and peaked in on Elijah.
They normally didn't let the kids talk for more than an hour and it was closing in on that time. From his position, he couldn't see the three-year-old, but he could hear him talking about Harry Potter. Nick was feeling pretty amazed at the mostly correct details that were flowing out about the wizard and his first adventure. He could also hear Trixie squealing in excitement over what she was being told and his pride was lit with amusement at the thought of how his sister must be feeling about the high pitched decibels her daughter was emitting.
He rubbed his eyes carefully, so as not to jostle his glasses too much, and was about to return to his book when there was an extremely loud crack of thunder, followed by a snapping sound as the lights went out. At the same time as the thunder, wailing had begun in the next room. Nick almost dropped his coffee as he ran into the office and straight towards Elijah.
Nick pulled the crying boy into his arms as he set his mug down and began crooning into his ear, running a hand up and down the small back. He nuzzled his nose into the sweet smelling locks by Elijah's ear and smiled when Elijah seemed to settle down a little. His relief was short lived, however, as another crack of thunder had Elijah screaming and trying to climb further into Nick's arms.
Nick sighed and went to the family room, his intention to start a fire. He wasn't fully sure if they had candles anywhere in the house and the lack of light and flashes of lightning were starting to unnerve him a bit. He tried to set Elijah down when he reached the fireplace, but the toddler clung to him like velcro, making the move nearly impossible.
Knowing it would be easier to start the fire without Elijah in his arms but unwilling to put him down in case the crying turned to screaming, Nick went about it one handed. With the way he was being clung to, he probably could have used both hands, but his left was still running a hopefully soothing hand up and down Elijah's back.
Once the fire was up and going, he suddenly realized that the family room was probably not the smartest to go to with a child who was afraid of thunder and lightning. The two-story room, with its floor to ceiling split windows, was extremely open and the fire, despite the size of the fireplace, didn't do much in way of light. It brightened the room just enough so he wouldn't have to worry about tripping over anything and that was about it.
His first course of action was closing the drapes over the windows. Thankfully, they ran top to bottom of both the upper and lower windows, so he was able to close out the outside entirely. After that, he dug through the built in entertainment center, just barely holding back a yell of triumph when he found two unopened packages of votive candles.
He lit two and set them on the small tables in the far corners of the room, knowing they weren't going to last long but feeling the need for light in those particular areas. After the last two crashes of thunder, Elijah had come to realize that he couldn't get any closer to Nick than he already was and instead took to clenching his hands and yelling at each boom though his tears.
Nick looked around the family room and thought of ways to calm Elijah down. He had never really been scared of thunderstorms, but he remembered his sisters Aly and Maddy being just as terrified of them as Elijah was. His mom used to sing to get them through it and his father would play with them, doing something physical as well as challenging to try and keep their minds off of the noises exploding over their heads.
His eyes fell on the throw blanket that was draped across the chair and an idea came to him, "Hey, little man." he nuzzled Elijah again to get his attention. When the shaking calmed slightly, he knew he had Elijah's attention, "How about we build a fort? We can have our own little camp out. Maybe go and get Stitch, find daddy's hidden supply of marshmallows and chocolate..."
Elijah sniffed and tilted his head back just enough for Nick to see the runny nose and watery eyes, both of which were leaving trails along Elijah's face, "how we do dat?" He asked, his voice quiet and shaky. Another clap of thunder had the face being re-buried in Nick's neck and whimpering.
Nick began to run his hand along Elijah's back again, "Well, first thing, we need flashlights. Wish I knew where daddy kept them though."
"gwage."
Nick looked through the dark kitchen towards where the door leading to the mudroom was. He sighed and started over, "Figures."
He stopped long enough to grab one of the candles, suddenly glad Greg had bought the more expensive kinds of votive candles. These were surrounded with a glass base instead of the metal ones found on cheaper brands, so he didn't have to worry about burning metal and bare skin coming in contact with each other.
When he reached the door, he set the candle on the island just long enough to open it. Grabbing it back up, he started through the mudroom. When he was at the garage door, he looked around for a place to set the candle. Spotting the small worktable next to the door leading out front, he set it down and practically swore as a wall cut off most of the light from the candle. He quickly opened the garage door and grabbed it back up again.
Searching for flashlights in a messy garage with a three-year-old clinging to him and a candle in one hand was certainly a new experience for him. Greg had, at one time, laughed about all of the barely used sports equipment that littered the garage, saying that it had been his plan to join as many sports as possible when he moved out here. That had been before he had applied at the lab and found out he would be working third shift.
Nick found one small flashlight wedged between a basketball and a hockey skate. He flicked it on and was relieved that it actually worked. Batteries did not stay in one place in this house, despite Rayne's continuous attempts at doing so.
He swung the light around, looking for at least one more flashlight. He found a rather large LED flashlight hanging next to the garage door and when he flipped the switch to test it, he had to turn his head away. The light emitting from it was incredibly bright.
He blew out the candle, which was now no more than a small dish of melted wax, and used the LED flashlight to go back into the house. He paused at the door and after giving it a brief thought, grabbed Greg's battery powered radio that was up on one of the shelves lining the garage wall.
"All right. Let's drop these off and then head upstairs to get some stuff." Nick said, going back into the family room. Elijah gave a jerky nod of agreement and Nick winced as a slightly slimy nose ran along his neck from the movement.
While Elijah was no longer screaming at each crash that came from above, he hadn't quite stopped crying either. Nick pressed a kiss to the auburn curls and started upstairs, the LED beam held out in front him. Their first stop was his and Greg's room, where he managed to get Elijah to let go long enough for Nick to change into his sleep wear.
Once Elijah was snuggled back into his arms, he grabbed the large, plastic clothes basket from their bathroom and put their comforter and his pillows in it. Dragging it behind him and holding the flashlight in the hand that was attached to the arm Elijah was sitting on, he made his way across the bridge like landing to the toddlers room.
He let the basket rest by the door and carried Elijah into the ensuite bathroom to wipe down the streaked face. Elijah took the gentle treatment silently and without protest. He accepted the tissue box Nick passed him before climbing off the sinks counter and into waiting arms. Nick brought him back out into his room and pulled open his pajama drawer.
"Which ones tonight?" Nick asked, voice barely above a whisper.
Elijah turned his head just enough to look in the drawer, "jungal." He said, pointing the green foliage pajamas that were resting at the top of the pile.
"All right." Nick quickly changed Elijah, pausing half way through when the three-year-old indicated he had to use the bathroom. Once he was fully dressed, Nick silently handed him Stitch, the purple and white stuffed clown his grandmother had made for him when he was a baby. The name was a more recent development, however, and had come about after watching Lilo and Stitch for the first time while staying with Catherine.
Nick tossed Elijah's pillow into the basket, as well as the small Harry Potter pillow that Nick had gifted him with a few weeks prior. He then had Elijah put two of his thinner blankets in and Nick followed it up with his comforter and the second Harry Potter book, liberated from its resting spot on Elijah's dresser. Lifting Elijah back into his arms, he went back down to the family room.
Looking at their collection, he decided a few more blankets couldn't hurt and they went back upstairs, pausing halfway up as a large bang echoed around the house, "Wow, that was a loud one." Nick said, eyes automatically rising to the glass dome covering the staircase just in time to see the flash of lightning streak across the sky.
As he finished climbing the stairs and made his way to Rayne's room, he couldn't help but shake his head in wonderment. In the four years he had lived in Vegas, this was the third strongest and second longest thunderstorm that had swept through the city. They inevitably got bad weather, all places did, but being in the middle of the Mojave desert made the storms very infrequent.
He was only classing this as the third strongest because in the year he had moved here, there had been a horrible storm that actually produced a tornado. The tornado itself had been weak and extremely brief, but the storm that caused it lasted two days and had at one time during its peak produced golf ball sized hail.
Shaking off the thoughts of tornadoes, he stepped into Rayne's room and waved the flashlight around. He had only been in here once, when he and Greg had run out of toilet paper, and at the time hadn't stopped to look around.
He knew that while it was technically Rayne's room, papa Olaf and nana Krista spent their visits living out of this room, and so the décor was simple and anonymous, save a few framed photographs of Rayne's daughter Lauren, her son-in-law Chris and their baby girl Summer.
He pulled a throw blanket and the comforter off of the bed and draped them over the sniffling toddler, hoping to emit a giggle. It didn't work. All Elijah did was bat the cloth down from around his eyes and peer up at Nick, confused.
"Okay, I know nana keeps another blanket in the closet. Greg's mentioned it once or...twice. Hello, what do we have here?" Nick pulled the closet door open further and a large grin lit his face as the light from the flashlight landed on a box marked 'candles.' He kneeled down and pulled the flaps of the box open.
Inside were candles of all different sizes, most with their own holders. He tugged the box out of the closet and after grabbing nana's 'favorite throw,' he shut the door. Dropping the blankets on top of the box, he hoisted it up into his arms, mindful of Elijah.
Once back in the family room, Nick turned on the radio and found a station talking about the storm. Apparently, it wasn't just one storm, but a series of smaller storms that were expected to hit throughout the next few hours. Power outages were happening sporadically throughout the city, though thankfully the strip was still up and running. The broadcasters warned those living along the edge of the city that if they were without power, it could be a while longer before it was regained. City workers were concentrating on keeping the busier parts of the city going.
Nick sighed and turned the radio down, "Okay, lets get that fort started." He was happy that the storm had lulled for the moment and while the rain was still falling hard, the thunder and lightning were spaced apart and the thunder quieter.
Elijah rubbed a tissue under his nose and nodded, "what we do?"
"Well, I need to re-arrange the furniture first." Nick said and went about doing just that. He pushed the end tables and potted plants so that they were along the wall and he moved the couch so it was in front of the arched doorway leading to the stairs and front door. This left the area overlooking the kitchen nook open, a room that was all windows, but Nick was planning on the back of the fort facing that area.
Once the furniture was to his liking, he hauled in all four stools from the kitchen. Their backs came to mid-chest on him so they would get a fairly tall structure from them. He had Elijah help maneuver them into place so the backs of the chairs were along where the 'walls' of the fort would be. Next, he tossed the larger of the blankets over the stools, surprised and happy that his and Greg's comforter as well as Rayne's was enough to cover the area blocked off with the chairs.
While he had been doing that, Elijah had been laying out the rest of the blankets and throws, making a cozy little nest. The toddler carefully placed Nicks two pillows up against the couch and his own right next to them. He rested Stitch against his and turned imploring eyes to Nick, who was straightening the comforters.
"what now?"
"Well," Nick stepped back a bit and placed his hands on his hips, "The fort looks pretty good. How about we go raid the kitchen for snacks and then settle in. We were going to start 'Chamber of Secrets' tonight. Maybe we could play a game or two as well."
"chewwy-o?" Elijah asked as he stood up and walked over to Nick. He popped his thumb into his mouth and leaned against a strong leg as he looked up at him.
"Sure. With the power off, though, we can't have the fridge open very long, so we're going to have to pull your juice out." Nick said, hauling Elijah up into his arms, "Though, I think we can skip the s'mores. Might be a bit too messy for tonight. 'Specially if we're using nana's blanket."
"k."
Nick glanced down at Elijah's face and saw that he didn't look very disappointed by that bit of news. He wondered briefly if Elijah had even experienced s'mores before, but shook it off. With Greg as his father, he'd have at least sampled one.
Nick sat him on the island, "Wanna hold the flashlight, little man?"
Elijah nodded and took the large light with both hands, aiming it at the refrigerator. Nick pulled open the door and grabbed out two bottles of water as well as the jug of apple juice before shutting it quickly. He set them next to Elijah and poured out two sippy cups, remembering to dilute the juice with water before attaching their lids.
He hunted out Elijah's graham crackers and some animal crackers, before grabbing his own bag of Frito's out of the snack cupboard. With the items gathered, he set Elijah on the floor and urged him to walk ahead of him.
Elijah set the flashlight down on the blankets and grabbed the game box off the shelves next to the fireplace. As Nick arranged their snacks, Elijah set up the game, meticulously placing the cherries in their little holders in the tree. Nick sat across from him and nodded for Elijah to go first.
The young boy did so and squealed happily when he got a four. He grabbed his first cherry and dropped it into his bucket while saying, "uno."
Nick felt a flame of pride well up in his breast bone at Elijah counting in Spanish. The toddler had heard him on the phone talking to a Spanish speaking friend and had demanded to be taught. He seemed to be picking up on it fairly easy.
"dos." Elijah said, dropping another cherry into the bucket, "Twe..."
"Tres." Nick said, correcting him, not realizing that the word for three that Elijah had used was actually right, just in another language. It never occurred to him that Elijah would know some Norwegian as well.
Elijah looked up at him, eyebrows furrowed, "twes?"
"Tres is three in Spanish, little man."
"oh...k." He picked up the last cherry and dropped it into his bucket, "fiwe."
Nick just stared at him, confused. Fire? When Elijah finally looked up at him, to see why he wasn't taking his turn, he spoke, "Don't you mean Cuatro?"
"nu uh. you go." Elijah said, pushing the small board to him
As they were finishing their second game of 'Hi Ho Cherry-o,' the storm began to pick up again as did Elijah's crying. The young boy migrated to Nick's lap at the first loud clap of thunder and lost all interest in the game. Nick silently packed up the game and leaned back against the couch, cuddling Elijah in the crook of his arms.
"Shh, it's okay, little man." He whispered, his mouth resting on the crown of Elijah's head, "You need to calm down. Your nose is going to get really stuffed up and you know how cranky you get when that happens."
Elijah tried to sniff and cuddled closer with a whimper as another crash sounded. Nick reached over and turned the volume back up on the radio, glad the channel he had chosen earlier was an easy listening station.
"How about we start that book now?" Nick asked, reaching behind him to grab it off of the cushion.
"k." Elijah whispered, voice back to being quiet and shaky.
Nick adjusted his glasses and cracked the cover of the hard bound book, turning to the first page. Over the rumbling thunder, the soft music, and Elijah's quiet crying, Nick began to read. He lowered his head so his mouth rested next to Elijah's forehead and kept his voice quiet, as if he were sharing a secret.
-----
Greg pulled up to the garage and cut the ignition. Thanks to the continuous power outages and his incessant worrying, Grissom had let him leave only a few hours into his actual shift time. Because there had been more then one storm, they had lost power a couple of times making it nearly impossible to get any work done.
They had managed what they could while the power had been up, with everyone pitching in to help. Thanks to the phone lines being down as well, no new cases had come to the lab while he had been there. Catherine spent her time working on the case she had been called in for with Warrick and Sara helping her. Archie had also been allowed to leave early as his computers would have to be reset once the power was back up for good.
Greg climbed out of the car and went inside, squinting his eyes at the darkness. He ran a hand along the wall to keep from veering off course on his way to the door. As he opened it, he found himself faced with an orange glow and while he had been expecting the screaming and hollering of his son, all that he heard was the popping of the fireplace and the low hum of classical music.
Frowning, he made his way to the family room and stopped short once he reached the arch way.
Nick was sprawled out on his back asleep, three quarters of the way inside a blanket tent, with a book resting open on his chest and his glasses askew on his face. One arm was cradling a sleeping Elijah while the other was bent up over his head as a barrier between his skull and the wooden frame of the couch. As Greg stepped closer, he could see faint tear tracks running along his sons cheeks, telling him that Nick did not have a quiet night. Not even after Elijah had dropped off, if he had been snoring then as bad as he was now.
He lifted the book and slid in a receipt from his pocket as a book mark before setting it down and carefully removing Nick's glasses from his face. He rested them on top of the book and went back into the kitchen. He shucked his jacket and shoes before opening the fridge and pulling out a water. He shut it quickly to conserve the cold and went back in to the family room.
Greg sat down on the couch and took in the fort for the first time. He had seen it when he walked in before, but it really hadn't clicked then, his concern more for seeing Elijah and Nick right away. His eyes wandered over the blankets used as he sipped his water. Finally though, his curiosity got the better of him and reached an arm out to lift the edge of the blanket on the side nearest to him. He smiled when he saw all four of the kitchen stools.
He set his water down on the floor next to Nick's and stretched out along the length of the couch, laying on his stomach. He folded his arms under his head and turned it so he he could watch his family sleep.
Greg had only been laying there for about half an hour when Nick finally stirred. As he watched, the Texan yawned and reached up with his free hand to rub at his eyes, sliding along his cheek as he apparently remembered that he had been wearing his glasses when he dozed off. When his fingers failed to come into contact with his wire frames, brown eyes shot open.
Greg chuckled and Nick craned his neck to look up, squinting a bit when he saw Greg, "Hey." He said, voice hoarse. He paused to clear his throat before continuing, "You're home."
"Yeah, I'm home."
"Mm." Nick rubbed his face again, "What time is it?"
Greg glanced at his watch, "Around three." He propped his head up on his hand, "I like the tent."
"It's a fort. We did that in between storms after we spent the first one looking for light."
"How bad was he?" Greg asked, dropping his right arm so his fingers brushed along Elijah's temple.
"Bit of screaming during the louder crashes, crying through the worst parts, whimpering and attempted sniffling otherwise. It wasn't that bad. Made me feel like I had another limb at times, though." Nick said, looking down at the still sleeping boy with fond eyes.
"I'm sorry. I tried to call but the phone lines went down before the power."
Nick carefully shifted Elijah off of his arm and shook it out as he sat up, "The lab lost power too?"
Greg nodded, "A few times on and off. None of them lasted more then twenty minutes each. It was enough to keep everyone tied to the lab. No phones meant no cases. Archie and I were the only ones who got to leave early though."
Nick stood up and stretched, sighing as his back cracked in three different spots. One of them loud enough for Greg to hear as well, who winced at the pop. Nick turned to face him and Greg rolled over onto his back and looked up, curious as to what Nick was thinking. Nick didn't say anything, instead reaching out to lift Greg's legs long enough to slide under them. He rested a hand on the cushion next to Greg's shoulder and leaned in to give him a kiss.
Greg returned the kiss with a hum, raising his hand to run it along Nick's bicep. He pulled away and sighed, glancing down at his son, "We should put him to bed."
Nick shrugged, "You tired?"
"A bit." Greg said slowly, "Why?"
"Let's just join him. It would be a hassle to grab all the blankets and pillows and the floor isn't that bad. Not with all those blankets down there at least."
Greg nodded and sat up, swinging his legs off of Nicks lap and far enough around so that his feet wouldn't land on Elijah. He slid off the couch and grabbed Nick's extra pillow, fluffing it with a few good punches before laying down on his side and curling around Elijah's small frame. Nick followed him down and laid half on his side, half on his stomach with his head pillowed on his upper arm. He then stretched out that same arm and threaded his fingers through Greg's hair.
Greg smiled at him over the top of Elijah's head before letting his eyes float shut.
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TBC...
Also, the little mention of the tornado above? That's a true fact. Clark county had a F0 strength tornado on September 11, 1998. That's right around the time I figured Nick to have arrived in Vegas, so it was worked in. This came about looking up how strong storms got around Vegas. Amazing what you pick up.
Translations: uno, dos, tres (those are a given as is quatro)...tre and fire are three and four in Norwegian.
Chapter 14