What If

Chapter 10

(AN: Thank you for the reviews. This chapter is dedicated to all of the parents out there-you'll see what I mean. I do not own CSI.)

Sara pulled into her parking space eager to get home. This was her first trip out by herself in weeks, of course it had only been an hour and a half, but it felt like too long away from her seven-week-old daughter. She walked through the door and saw Nick who was busy cleaning the kitchen. Sneaking up behind him, she planted a kiss on his neck. When he turned, she continued to kiss him, moving up to his lips. He pulled back to catch his breath as she spoke, "Is she sleeping?" She began kissing him some more.

In between kisses he replied, "Yep, went down about half an hour ago. I take it your doctor's appointment went well?" He continued where he left off.

"Ah-huh got the 'all clear.'" Now she began to unbutton his shirt.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" He bent over and picked her up in one movement and began kissing her as he carried her down the hall to their bedroom. "Time to celebrate." She laughed a little at the last part.

Just as he laid her on the bed, they heard a tiny cry coming from Hannah's room. They silently held their breaths, hoping she would fall back asleep. When the cry became louder, Sara let out her breath in a long sigh.

Nick spoke first, "She's probably hungry."

"I'll go nurse her." Sara said unable to hide her disappointment, and then added, "Later?"

"You can count on it."

Sara walked out of the room to get Hannah as Nick rebut toned his shirt.

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A couple hours later, Nick laid a sleeping Hannah down in her crib. He carefully closed the bedroom door before going to find his wife. He found her loading the washing machine. They could not understand how such a little person could add so much dirty laundry to the house. "Hey, she's asleep." He said as he took her by the hand.

"Wait, let me just hit 'start,'" she reached back and pushed the button, then wrapped her arms around her husband as they made their way down the hall.

Sara was on top of Nick, he was working on getting off her shirt when his cell phone began to ring. "Ignore it" Sara demanded.

"Babe, you know I can't do that."

"Fine," she groaned

"Stokes…You sure you need me?… Alright, I'll be there in ten or fifteen." Nick hung up the phone and looked apologetically at Sara.

"No!" She banged her fists and feet on the bed in mock tantrum.

"I'm sorry darlin' you know I would stay if I could, boy would I stay." He shook his head.

"I know."

He kissed her good-bye then headed down the hall.

"I love you, be careful" she called out after him.

"Love you too" he called back before walking out the door.

About ten minutes later he walked through the doors of the lab. He was met by Warrick coming the other way, "Hey man, drop your stuff off in the locker room and meet me in the Denali; we have a D.B. in the desert."

"I'll be right there."

Two minutes later Nick jumped in the Denali with Warrick. "So what do we know so far?"

"Not much, may be a decomp, but that hasn't been confirmed by anyone but the motorist who found it."

"Sounds fun, glad I came in early for it." He didn't even try to hide his annoyance.

"Hey I was called in too. Apparently, swing shift is overwhelmed."

"Overwhelmed? Are they serious? If they can't hack it maybe they should move to some no-name county where nothing ever happens."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"What?"

"Whatever has you in this wonderful mood. We've got the time. It is a forty minute ride to the scene."

"Let's just say that I was busy, 'we' were busy, or trying to be busy when the phone rang."

"Is that it man? It's not like it was your only opportunity."

"That is just it man, it was our only opportunity in months. I mean, she finally got the all clear from her doctor today, and the baby, then the phone, and it never happened. It was more like someone was playing a cruel joke on us."

Warrick couldn't help but laugh a little at Nick's situation.

"Come on, it's not funny. We couldn't even celebrate our on our Wedding night."

"Alright, alright, I get it. You want it and you can't get it." He continued laughing.

"Not funny."

They drove the rest of the way in silence. Warrick chuckling every so often.

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The next morning Nick arrived home to find a very tired Sara sitting in the glider rocking and singing to a very awake Hannah. Just above Sara's head he saw a picture he never noticed before. "When did you get that?"

Sara jumped at his voice. She was so tired that she did not hear him walk in the door. "What?"

"The picture hanging there." He pointed above her head.

"A few weeks ago, I took it when your mom and I came back from shopping. It's a great picture of you and Hannah, don't you think?" He nodded. "I finally got around to hanging it up last night. Unfortunately, I should have been sleeping. I didn't know your daughter had inherited my insomnia."

"It looks like she's got you beat, why don't you let me rock her for a bit while you take a hot bath, then get some sleep."

"You sure you're not too tired?" She knew he had been up just as long as she had.

"I'll last longer than it looks like you will right now." Nick was still wide awake from all of the coffee he drank at the lab, and besides, he didn't want Sara to overdo it. "Go, take a break, you deserve it." He kissed her cheek.

"I love you." She headed off to the bathroom as Nick settled into the glider.

Sara grabbed a towel and began to fill the tub. One of the best things about this apartment was the Jacuzzi tub, and now that she was no longer pregnant she took full advantage of it. She turned on some soft music and settled into the tub and just relaxed. A few minutes later Nick opened the door. "Don't tell me you got her down already?"

"What can I say, Daddy's got the touch." He raised his eyebrows and grinned from ear to ear. "Want some company?" He came in and set the monitor on the counter. Sara nodded and in a flash Nick was slipping in the tub behind her so she could lean back into him. He just held her for a few minutes, enjoying the jets and the water temperature. Then he began to massage her neck, back, and shoulders.

"That feels so good," she purred as he began to kiss her neck

"Do you want to get out?" He whispered in her ear.

"No," she said as she turned in his embrace and began kissing him passionately.

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A few hours later they awoke to the sounds of Hannah's cries coming over the monitor. Sara rolled over in Nick's embrace. "Your daughter's calling you," he whispered as he moved a stray hair out of her face.

She gave him a euphoric smile, "I wish we could stay like this a little longer."

"Me too," he gave her the same smile as she slid out of bed and pulled on one of Nick's t-shirts and headed down the hall. A minute later, she sat on the bed with Nick and nursed Hannah. Nick sat there watching his beautiful wife nourish his precious daughter, and all he could think was, 'What if the last year had never happened.'

The End

This has been so much fun for me, I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you so much for reading, please review if you are able.