Fic: When All is Said and Done - Chapter 23
January, 2003
Nick paced the halls of the lab, lost in thought. It wasn't his case that he was worried about, as he had closed it a half an hour before hand, but rather it was something he had been thinking about since November. Blythe's call about Elijah had only solidified his decision and he had decided that valentines day, which was just barely a month away, would be the perfect time to put it into action.
As he walked down the halls, he nearly jumped out of his skin when Grissom stepped out of his office, "That's the third time you've wandered by, Nicky. Are you bored or is there something bothering you?"
"Just thinking about something, Gris. It's making me antsy." Nick said, still half in thought.
Grissom just looked at him for a moment, "Well, let me know if there's anything I can do to help." He turned and went back into his office.
Nick nodded, more to himself then to Grissom who wouldn't have seen it anyway, and started down the hall again. After a few feet, he stopped and turned back to Grissom's office and poked his head through the door after knocking on the jam, "Actually Gris, have you got a few? I could use some 'fatherly' advice."
Grissom stammered an affirmative, clearly uncomfortable with the parental tag, "What's on your mind, Nicky my boy?"
Nick sat down in one of the chairs across from his supervisor. After several minutes spent in a somewhat strained silence, Grissom spoke again. "Nick...I can't help you if I don't know what's going on."
Nick shook his head slightly as he scratched the back of it, "Right, sorry." He paused, "I want to ask Greg to marry me. Well, I guess it'd be more like a commitment ceremony."
"Well...I guess congratulations are in order," Grissom said with a genuine smile. "I knew things were getting serious with the two of you, but I had no idea it had progressed to this point. I'm happy for you, Nick." He leaned back in the chair, "Are you concerned about the implications about this arrangement here in the lab? I can look into if you like, but since the 'marriage' won't be legally recognized, I don't think there is anything to worry about," Grissom offered, hoping that was the source of Nick's consternation.
"Uh, no. I hadn't actually thought about that." Nick replied, "I'm just about stuck on everything else, though. We've kind of been skirting the norm when it comes to, ah, romance and I wanna stay with that but...I can't think of anything."
"I'm sorry, I don't think I understand," Grissom said, feigning ignorance, hoping Nick wasn't implying a desire for his advice on things of a romantic or, he shuddered to think, sexual nature.
Nick stared at Grissom for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts, "I want to ask him on Valentines day but I don't want anything to do with candy, flowers and hearts. Thats just too...feminine? See, we always try to shoot for unique things like bringing snow to Vegas or renting a private beach or something. I don't know if I can top all of that."
"I see, but I hardly think that I'm the one you should be coming to for advice on this. I'm not exactly versed in this subject, Nick. Why don't you tell me what you have in mind and I'll see if I can lend you any ideas."
Nick slouched back in the chair, "Well, I know he misses the beach." He said, shrugging
"Yes, I do seem to recall him saying something about missing the ocean once or twice...a day for the last two years," The night shift supervisor said with a touch of humor. "Have you thought about taking him to LA for the weekend and having a nice dinner on the beach?"
"It crossed my mind to do something like that, but we've taken enough time off the past few months. Cindy actually told Greg that it's emergencies only that she'll work for him until they're even again."
Grissom sat for a moment, lost in thought before he spoke again. "I may have an idea. I did some consulting work a while back for one of the trainers at the Mirage. Are you familiar with their Trainer-for-a-Day attraction that deals with dolphins? I know how much Greg enjoys the ocean and it's certainly something unique."
Nick straightened up, "That sounds perfect, Gris! Do you know what I'll have to do? That's gotta be a huge thing, though. It's probably already booked." He slumped back, defeated by the thought.
"You give up too soon, Nick. Let me make a couple of phone calls and see if I can call in a favor or two. I'll get back to you before shift tomorrow."
Nick gave his boss a broad smile, "Thanks Gris. This means a lot to me." He stood up and started out of the office, but paused by the door, "It also takes care of part of the problem."
~~
Grissom strode into the break room in search of Nick the next evening. Finding him on the couch talking quietly with his soon-to-be fiance, he spoke calmly so as not to arouse any suspicion in the wild-haired lab tech. "Nick, could I see you in my office for a few minutes? I have a some questions about your report on the case at the Mirage last month," he threw in the last part knowing that the younger man would catch the hint.
"Yeah, sure Grissom." Nick said, catching on to what his boss wanted right away. He stood up and tugged gently on one of Greg's spikes, "I'll see you later, G."
Once they had reached the privacy of his office, Grissom smiled broadly at Nick. "I told you yesterday that you gave up too quickly. What good are my connections if I don't use them to help my team when they need it? Greg has a private session booked for Valentine's Day with their head trainer and Splashy, their most playful dolphin. I hope you don't mind that I took the liberty of also booking a suite for the night and I've already fixed the schedule so that you will have the 13th off." When he noted Nick's amazement, he added with a grin, "I may be inexperienced but I'm not hopeless!"
Nick dropped down on the chair closest to him and managed to find his voice, "Gris, that sounds great but Cindy..."
"Is taken care of. She'll work for Greg in the lab on the 13th and Sara will cover for you. I already talked to them about it. Cindy actually came up with the idea of asking Greg to work for her Saturday night and she'll offer to work Thursday. It won't be too suspicious and I think he'll jump on it if you mention that you have that night off as well."
"Wow. You really thought this through."
"Of course. Now, have you given any thought to a ring, because I was thinking about the tradition of giving engagement rings in the first place..."
Nick sagged back against the back of the chair, "That was the other part of the problem and the whole traditional thing pops up again every time I think about it."
Grissom nodded, "There was a custom that had been practiced from around the middle ages through the late eighteen hundreds before it fell out of practice. It was called the Gimmal ring. It's a series of separate rings that forms one ring when interlocked. During engagement period, one of each of the rings was worn by the bride, the groom and a special witness. All were brought together on the wedding day and worn by the bride."
"That sounds...really cool, actually."
"Of course, they're not made anymore, so if you were to go with that concept it will have to be specially made. It will also stand as the actual wedding ring when together, so you'll have to find something similar that you would wear as well." Grissom pushed a packet across the desk, "That's the info for the trainer and for the hotel. There are also several jewelers listed once you come up with an idea for the ring so you can get different quotes. They won't overcharge, but it won't be cheap either."
Nick took the packet and smiled, "Thanks again Gris. This is all...Greg's gunna flip." He tapped the desk with the folder, "The third ring...you said a witness wore it?"
Grissom nodded, wondering where Nick was going with this, "That's right."
"Would you consider doing it? I'd ask my sister, but she's got really small fingers and..."
"I'd be honored." Grissom said after a moment, returning Nick's smile with one of his own.
~~
Greg tapped his pencil on the table, watching idly as it bounced on the eraser. He was caught up for the moment and thinking about Nick. His Texan had been acting a bit...off, the last few weeks or so. More secretive and a hell of a lot more quiet. Granted, a quiet Nick wasn't something that would raise alarms, but this felt almost sneaky. And then tonight he goes and takes Archie out into the field.
He totally didn't have anything against Archie, in fact the Asian tech was one of his best friends, but what the hell did Nick need him for? He dropped the pencil and raised his head from his fist when he caught sight of Nick walking down the hallway. He had to admit, Nick looked damn good in that leather jacket. Shaking off that thought, he stood up and went to the door, "Hey Stokes."
Nick glanced over his shoulder, "Yeah?"
Greg made an aborted gesture with his hand, "We gotta talk."
Nick stopped and pointed the folder he was holding at Greg, "Hey, did you ID that scraping from my vic's head wound yet?"
"Yeah, yeah it's a common plastic, polyethylterephthalate...PET...used in everything from garbage bags, to magnetic tape, to floppy disks."
"Okay, thanks." Nick turned and made an aborted step into the A/V lab.
"Yeah, but that's not what I wanted to talk about." Greg added quickly.
Nick turned back around, face serious, "What then?"
Greg nodded his head, motioning for Nick to move closer. Nick drew his eyebrows together and lowered his head a bit in confusion but didn't move, so Greg nodded again. This time, Nick's serious look was over come with one of bemusement as he stepped closer to his lover.
"Look, I thought we had a relationship. What are you doing taking Archie out into the field instead of me?" Greg muttered, pointing to his friend around Nick's arm.
Nick laughed, "It's the right tool for the right job, man. You have to understand the world you're investigating." Greg crossed his arms and leaned against the door jam, raising and lowering his eyebrows quickly in an 'prove it' sort of way. Nick held up a finger and turned to the A/V lab, "Hey Archie?"
Archie looked up and out into the hallway, "Yeah?"
"Hey, what's that Star Trek episode where the guy's got the forehead thingy and the time portal...?" He trailed off and Greg cocked his head to the side to see his friend around Nick.
"In classic, TNG, DS9, Voyager, or Enterprise?"
Nick looked back at Greg with a smug look on his face, which had Greg straightening up and dropping his arms, "Point taken." He said, before turning and walking back into the DNA lab, irked.
Now he felt like a dumb ass. He walked out the opposite set of doors and went to the break room, giving Jacqui a tight smile as he walked in, "Hey hun." He muttered while he poured himself a cup of coffee.
Jacqui looked up from her magazine, "Everything okay? You look a little..." She trailed off.
"Irritated? I just made a fool of myself, except this time it wasn't on purpose so it's kind of bothering me."
"What did you do?"
"I asked Nick why he took Archie out into the field instead of me." He mumbled into his coffee cup. The words were jumbled up and buried in ceramic, so it was no surprise when Jacqui re-asked her question. Greg sighed and dropped down across from the print tech, "I asked Nick why he took Archie into the field instead of me."
Jacqui stared at him for a moment, "Okay and he explained it right? I mean, that's hardly anything to be upset over."
"It was the way I phrased it, making it seem like because we're dating he should take me. Normally I wouldn't care, but it seems like he's been avoiding me lately." Greg sighed, "He spent the last two weeks when we weren't sleeping either locked up in his den or out of the house, period. He hasn't spent any time with Elijah since Christmas and pretty much the same with me too, except for New Years."
"Have you thought to ask him if somethings wrong?"
Greg shook his head, "No, I probably should though. Maybe I will this afternoon after we sleep." He drained his mug and stood up, "Thanks, Jac, for lending an ear."
"Sure, no problem."
~~
Nick sighed as he set their breakfast on the island. Greg was up taking a shower, probably trying to avoid him. He wasn't sure why his lover was still upset about the other night. He had explained what happened and hadn't ragged him about it, although the thought had crossed his mind to do so.
Of course, it didn't help that he, himself, was pretty preoccupied with the ring design. It had taken a week since his talk with Grissom to find a ring that would work and then going over the specs with Sammy, who was sworn to secrecy about the whole thing. He was also wondering if Greg knew something was up.
He dished out the food and went to get Elijah, who was bouncing around the family room, "Eli, stop that." He said, when he caught sight of the toddler jumping up and down on the coffee table. The cherry table, which had an inlaid stone top, was a remarkably sturdy structure, but it was wobbling dangerously every time Elijah landed on it. He didn't want his son to get hurt or break the thing.
"Elijah, stop it. You're going to hurt yourself." He said, stepping into the room when the toddler continued to bounce away. His second warning had failed to stop the little red head and he felt a tightening of irritation and worry in his gut, "Elijah Henrik, that's enough. You're going to have a time out."
He had barely raised his voice, but it was enough. Elijah stopped jumping immediately, sat down on the table and started crying. Nick rubbed his temples and was just about to go and comfort the toddler when Greg ran into the room, "What the hell happened?" He pulled his son into his arms and frowned when Elijah pointed at Nick, still crying.
"G..."
"You made him cry? How could you do that? Here I am, trusting you with him and one of the times I'm not around he starts bawling his eyes out and you're the cause!" Greg exclaimed, face tight with anger.
Nick's mouth dropped open. What the hell?
Greg stood up and wiped his son's face off, "Why don't you go eat, babe." He put Elijah down and when the toddler was out of the room he faced Nick, "You had no right to do anything that would make him cry like that. What were you thinking?"
"I'm thinking I was being a father just like you wanted me to be! He was either going to hurt himself or break the damned table. I had to do something." Nick said, clenching his hands.
"What do you mean by 'something.'" Greg practically hissed.
"Jesus, you actually think I hit him? I'm all the way over here, for one thing. Two, I would never lay a hand on a kid like that! I can't believe you think I'd do something like that."
Greg threw his hands up, "I don't! But all I know is I come down here and you're angry and my son is crying. What the hell does that tell me?"
"Your son...will you listen to yourself? You said you wanted me to be a part of your family, calling me Elijah's other father and saying he's ours and when I tell him he's in time out for jumping on the table and not listening to me, you suddenly call the shots?" Nick started pacing and ignored Greg when he went to say something, "If you want this to be a 'real' family, and you definitely indicated that, I should not only be allowed to do it, but hell it should be expected!" He stopped pacing and slowly turned to Greg, "Maybe...maybe we should hold off on the whole family thing for awhile. I think you still need to think about it."
"No! No, you're right. God, I..." Greg wiped his hand over his face, "I'm sorry. I should have had you explain what happened first, but damn it, it's a gut reaction when he cries like that when I'm not around. I know you would never hit him and I never should have implied that."
"You think?"
Greg snorted and sank down onto the couch, "This is why anger is a very bad thing. Rational thinking just flies right out along with common sense. I think, if we're going to get past this without it happening again, we need to talk to Elijah. He can't blame you for doing something you're supposed to do like you're the bad guy...well, if you start punishing him you will be the bad guy until he's over being mad, but this crying thing has got to be stopped, otherwise my gut reactions are going to tear us apart." He waved his hand between them in emphasis.
"You jumped to his defense rather quickly without listening to my side of things." Nick said, shoving his hands in his pockets, "Is this what you want, Greg? Are you sure you're ready to share a life and your son with me?"
Greg jumped to his feet and slammed his hand over Nick's mouth. He narrowed his eyes, "Of course I'm sure! All this is is another bump that popped up that we need to iron out. It hasn't happened before so how were we to expect it? Let's just fix it so it doesn't happen again."
Nick stared Greg straight in the face. There was no anger left, nor was there any doubt as to what was going on. Just steely determination and a crap load of love. He nodded. Greg smiled and pulled his hand away, "Good. Now lets go talk to our son."
They walked into the kitchen and instead of sitting in their usual places at the island with Greg next to Elijah and Nick across from him, they both sat down across from the toddler. Elijah looked at them, fork shoved in his mouth and eyes still red from his crying. He had the look of someone who knew something was coming, but wasn't sure if it was going to be good or bad.
"Nicky and I need to talk to you, Elijah." Greg said. He reached across the marble counter and gently tugged the fork out of Elijah's mouth.
"what bout?"
"Well," Nick and Greg exchanged looks and Greg plowed on when Nick just raised his eyebrows, "about before and you not listening to Nick." He cleared his throat, wondering how they were going to explain this to a three-year-old.
An idea went off in Nick's head and before Greg could start stumbling into some sort of explanation, he decided to run with it, "You know how some families, like Trixie's and Lindsey's, have a mommy and daddy?"
Elijah frowned, "lindy has aunty cathy. no daddy."
"Okay, that may be so, but do you get what I'm saying?" Nick asked, "Besides, Warrick could sort of be considered Lindsey's dad."
Elijah nodded his head slowly, "yeah, i get. why?"
Greg grasped Nick's idea figuratively with both hands, "Well, babe, not all families are like that. There are little kids who have two mommies and no daddy, or two daddies and no mommy, like Jenna."
"I got daddy and nicky. i good." Elijah reached out to his dad imploringly while looking at his fork, "i eat?"
"Er, not yet. See, sproglet, you actually have two daddies now. Nicky's your other daddy." Greg paused, "And because of that, when he tells you not to do something, you have to listen just like you would to me."
Elijah kicked his foot against the island while he thought about that, "k. i still time-out?" He asked Nick, his brown eyes as wide and innocent as he could make them.
Nick shook his head, "No. Just don't do it again."
"k...what i call nicky if he daddy?"
"Well, you can't call both of us daddy. It would get confusing all around." Greg handed Elijah his fork, "Do you want to call him something other than Nicky?"
"he daddy. need daddy name." Elijah dug the fork back into his cheese ladened eggs.
Greg looked at Nick and shrugged, "I don't know. Jenna calls Bobby and Randy daddy and papa, but I think papa would be a little weird."
"no papa. papa take-ed by papa olaf." Elijah said, interrupting Greg.
"And its already taken." Greg laughed and then sighed, "Well, there are other names that mean daddy. There's dad, da, pa, pops, pappy, poppy...I don't know..."
Elijah grinned and looked at Nick, "like poppy. dat okay?"
Nick stood up and reached across the table to rub his fingers through Elijah's hair, "That sounds great, little man."
TBC...