Summary – In a lab full of rats and investigative geniuses, it's hard to keep a secret. They all think they know the truth, but does anyone really have ALL the answers? A WIP with a new 6000 word chapter at least weekly.

(NOTE: This story is the sequel to Where You Are and picks up exactly where that story left off. It is highly recommended that you read the stories in order or you'll be missing an enormous amount of character backstory and relationship development. )

Rating - T on FF(dot)Net and rated M on my website msmaggs(dot)com

Romantic pairings - Nick/Greg and Grissom/Sara are the focus of the story. Catherine/Warrick are together in the story, but they will be minor characters.

Other characters - The lab rats (Hodges, Mandy, Wendy, Henry, Archie) are featured from time to time. Greg's parents (Jan and Dave Sanders) and Nick's entire family are also included in the story.

Thank you for reading the second half of the story! I hope you enjoy…

The Day Before You
Written By: Ms. Maggs / Edited By: KJT

Chapter 1: Family Matters

Walking into the grocery store with his partner, Nick said, "This was a good call stoppin' here. I'm beat, and once we get home, I won't want to leave, but I know we don't have any food."

Greg patted his belly. "I ate a ton at dinner, but I'm starving again. I guess I'm still in a calorie-deficit from kayaking, hiking and sex. I bet I lost five pounds this week."

"You're already too skinny," Nick remarked while grabbing a cart. Moving close, he joked, "Lose any more and I won't have anything to grab when I'm behind ya."

"It's good that you're joking around and still feeling comfortable with me even though we're back in Vegas. I was afraid you'd panic as soon as we crossed the state line and go back to your old denial-filled self, making me stay ten feet away at all times."

"No PDAs, but I'm cool talkin' to each other about stuff in public…as long as we're not near anyone we know."

"Hey, how do we want to handle the money situation now that we're a couple?"

"Yeah, I guess we have to think about that," Nick remarked as he strolled for the condom aisle to stock up on their favorites.

"I'm not just your roomie anymore, so I don't want to pay you rent and keep our food separate. We should just make it easy and split everything fifty-fifty."

"Yeah, but I can't have you payin' half my mortgage without havin' any ownership. What if somethin' happened to me? You'd have no rights to the place even though you've been payin' in. It would go to my parents the way I have it set up now." Stopping in front of the prophylactic display, Nick scratched his head. "I'm gonna have to change the paperwork and stuff."

"Hey, maybe we should just buy a new place together. I have that money from my dad. If I don't invest a chunk of it, I'll get killed on taxes. We could sell your place and buy a nice house together, one with a private backyard and a Jacuzzi, so we could hot tub naked after work." Tossing jumbo packs of Trojan Twisted Pleasure into their cart, Greg enthused, "I think it's a great idea, what about you, Cletus?"

"I love the idea, G, especially the naked hot tubbing." Nick threw four bottles of lube into the cart. "But how the hell are we gonna explain buyin' a house together when we're not together?"

Greg's excitement faded. "I guess it would look kind of weird."

Pushing the cart toward the frozen food section, Nick pondered the problem.

"We could refinance your mortgage with me matching your investment, so it's fifty-fifty ownership on the townhouse. It would also drastically reduce the monthly payment too, so we'd both have a lot more of our paychecks left over."

"Yeah, but we're still losin' out on the naked hot tubbing. And all joking aside, I like the idea of havin' a private backyard, because then we could get a dog…or a Cambodian orphan," he laughed.

"Hold up."

"I was kiddin' about the Cambodian orphan." Nick stopped in front of the ice cream section to clarify his thoughts. "I thought you liked dogs though."

"I do. Honestly, I might even like a Cambodian orphan or some other kind of kid in the very distant future."

"Really?" Nick remarked in surprise. "I didn't think you wanted kids. I guess we've never talked about it for real, so..."

"That's my point here!" Sweetly laughing, Greg pointed to his bracelet. "Of course we haven't talked about this stuff in great detail. We've officially been together for less than a week and we had a lot of catching up to do in the sack. There was no time for talking. I figured the serious talking would come after we got over the new relationship hyper-sexual phase, which I'm personally not planning to get over for at least three or four months, because I'm still pent up from my prolonged hard-up phase." He put it in Nick terms, "All I'm saying is, I didn't think we'd be expanding our family so soon after getting engaged."

Feeling a bit overwhelmed, Nick leaned in and quietly said, "The truth is, couples are supposed to talk about this stuff before they get engaged. Because how can they get engaged to be married without knowin' they have the same picture of the future?"

"Wow…is that thirty-sixth birthday on the horizon making your biological clock tick all of a sudden?" When Greg saw his partner fluster, he grabbed a gallon of frigid ice cream and handed it over. "Chill out, cowboy. I'm on the same page, but I'm in no rush to get there and I don't think the frozen food section of Albertson's is a good setting for a serious conversation. For the record though, I'm totally cool with getting a dog soon."

"Are you sure? Because we can't divide a dog if things don't work out and I get real attached to pets."

"I'll have my Dad's lawyer draw up a pre-nuptial pet custody agreement granting you sole custody if..."

Nick stuffed his hands on his hips in frustration. "Why are you bein' such a smart ass about this? It's serious."

Greg heatedly whispered, "Because I'm not worried, that's why! I know I want to be with you today and twenty years from now, so I don't need a frickin' pet custody agreement. In my head, the damn dog that we don't even have yet, is going to die while we're still together."

"Oh."

"What's wrong now, Cletus?" Greg sighed, when he saw his partner grow more distraught instead of less.

"I'm sad that our dog is gonna die."

"The dog we don't have yet?"

Nick cleared the emotion from his throat. "Yeah."

"Holy shit. I so totally love you," Greg confessed as his eyes lit up. "I mean I knew that, but…wow. We're getting a dog. And our dog is going to die while we're together and our daughters Chanthavy and Sokhanya are going to cry and want to bury him in the backyard."

Cracking a huge grin, Nick said, "Chanthavy and Sokhanya?"

"They mean 'beautiful moon angel' and 'peaceful lady' in Cambodian. My mother told me that when she yanked my chain earlier showing me photographs of her prospective grandkids." Greg laughed, "At least I think she was kidding, but she also gave me a brochure on Rosie's gay family cruise, so maybe not."

After a shared laugh, Nick said, "Wanna buy a house together, G? So we can get a dog soon and maybe somethin' else a few years from now?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I do." The warmth of Greg's smile thawed the frozen food around him. "I'll come up with a good story to tell everyone."

"Okay." Nick felt the last drop of tension leave his body. "I'll spend my two weeks off workin' with a realtor."

"Great." Reaching out, Greg patted his cheek. "You looked a little pale there for a minute. Are you feelin' better?""

"Much." The crisis of confidence suddenly felt silly. "Thanks for puttin' up with my stupid panic attacks."

"It's not…shit." Greg yanked his hand off Nick's cheek and straightened up. "Mandy at nine o'clock."

"Dammit!"

"Sorry, I got caught up in the moment and forgot where we were."

"Do you think she saw you touchin' me?"

"I don't know." Greg whispered, "Just follow my lead."

"Hey, you two!" Mandy hid the pack of Energizer batteries she was holding and forced a cheery tone. "I'm just here to get some Chunky Monkey. Pretty pathetic on a Saturday night, huh? Yeah, just me and a pint of ice cream. I was hanging out with Wendy earlier, but she had a date…everyone has a date, but me apparently." She felt her cheeks flush. "I knew you saw me, so I didn't want to walk away without saying hi. I feel terrible for interrupting what looked like a…um…very personal moment." When her gaze landed on a cart full of condoms and lube, her discomfort grew. "You know what, I have an idea. Let's pretend this meeting never happened. If you guys don't tell anyone I was here buying ice cream for one on my Saturday night off, then I promise not to…"

"Can you give us a minute, Nick?" Greg blurted.

"Yeah, you bet." Breaking into a sweat, Nick rushed away with the cart full of sex supplies. Of all the grocery stores in Clark Friggin' County, she had to come into mine! When he got to the next aisle, he tossed in random items to cover the Trojans and Astroglide.

Five minutes later, Greg found his panicked lover standing in front of the Antacid display. "We're cool. I cleared everything up."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she totally believes we're not together."

"How'd you convince her?" Nick asked as his breathing slowed.

"I told her you were having an emotional moment of self-doubt about your job and I was assuring you that everything would be fine. Then I saw all the condoms and lube in the cart and was counseling you that womanizing your way around Vegas having rough sex with loose women wasn't a good strategy for working out your personal demons."

"That's all it took to convince her?"

"That and…um…I asked her out on a date."

"You what?! Are you out of your god damn mind?! You're not allowed to date women!"

"Shhhh!" Greg reminded his loud mouth partner. "She's still here."

"A date? What kind of a dumb ass plan is that?" Nick snapped.

"It's a great plan. We'll go out on one date and it'll suck, so she won't want a second one. When everyone finds out that we dated and I'm a loser, my geek hetero status will be preserved and everyone will resume thinking I'm single because I'm pathetic. Then all you have to do is keep up your womanizing bravado act. With me being a dork and you being a commitment-phobic man-ho, it makes perfect sense that we'd buy a house together, because neither of us will be getting married."

"I don't know, I have a bad feelin' about this plan, G."

"Why? What could go wrong?" When Greg saw Mandy waving to him from the end of the aisle, he returned the gesture. "You worry too much, Cletus."

When Mandy turned the corner, she grabbed her cell phone and sent a text message to Wendy...

Met Greg at Albertson's.
He asked me out!!!
Will you be my Maid of Honor?!
Imagine how smart our little geek babies will be!

When Sara emerged from the shower she wiped the moisture from the bathroom mirror and grabbed her toothbrush. "It's just you and me, Bruno," she yelled into the bedroom. "Want to keep me company while I catch up on what I Tivo'd?"

Gil had insisted on going into the lab for a few hours to get a jump start on paperwork. He also thought it would be good for him to be seen alone and crabby to squelch any rumors that Hodges might have started. Her plan was to drop a few anti-Grissom comments over the next few days to throw the nosy lab rat off their trail. In no time he'd be back to believing it was Greg that had the hots for her, not Grissom.

"Bruno!" Cinching her robe, she padded into the bedroom. "What the…" The dog's brand new $150 pet bed was covered in vomit. "Bruno! What did you do?!" As she moved closer, the happy hound approached wagging his tail. "What did you eat while I was in the shower?"

Rather than waiting for the dog to speak, the trained CSI examined the evidence. "Oh, shit." Her heart pounding in her chest, she rushed from the room and when she reached the home office, her worst fears were confirmed, "You ate the roaches. I can't believe you ate the roaches! And not just any roaches, the prize-winning Madagascars." Her hand over her gaping mouth, Sara turned to look at the guilty party. "This is bad." She shook her finger. "You're a bad dog, Bruno!"

Sensing a change in his owner's tone, the pooch hung his head and whimpered for forgiveness.

"Don't do that. That's so pathetic." Feeling terrible for yelling, Sara walked over and gave the errant dog a neck rub. "It's not your fault; you didn't know the rules, and we should have pet-proofed the house." Taking a seat next to him, she quietly shared, "My first week in foster care, I broke a lot of rules, not on purpose, I just didn't know the rules of normal living. When you grow up with alcoholic parents, you don't know that it's wrong to eat potato chips for breakfast or go three days without brushing your teeth. You have to be told to brush twice a day and be shown the box of Cheerios, you know? I'm sorry." She hugged the obviously repentant Boxer tight. "I'll smooth things over with the Bugman, okay?" After kissing her pet's face, she rose to her feet. "But first, I'm going to try and salvage your pet bed. I think the suede cover comes off and is hand washable."

Looking at all the laundry they had piled in the hallway, Nick grumbled, "This is the worst part of comin' home from a vacation, isn't it? Even the stuff you didn't wear you gotta wash, because it smells damp from the ocean."

"I'll get it all done tonight," Greg offered. "I have to do something to stay awake, so I can sleep during the day tomorrow and get back on track for working nights. You sort it, I'll do it. How's that?"

"I'm gonna have plenty of time to do laundry while you're workin' tomorrow."

Greg glanced over. "Do you have an alternative strategy for keeping me awake tonight?"

After removing the shirt he was wearing and tossing it in the pile, Nick said, "Remember how hot that shower was at the hotel? We couldn't take showers on the boat, because it was too small, but my master suite has a double-wide stall with two heavy-duty massaging shower heads."

"Mmm." Greg yanked off his t-shirt. "Everyone knows that two heads are better than one." He pressed his bare chest to his lover's. "I bought some Irish Spring soap at the store earlier and put it on your bathroom counter. If you wash my back," he said with his lips grazing Nick's ear, "I'll wash yours."

"You've got yourself a deal," Nick rasped back before initiating a lusty kiss and guiding their lip-locked bodies into his room. "Mmm." When they were tugging at each other's Levi's, he asked, "Do we need any other supplies besides Irish Spring?"

"No, let's just recreate our first time frottage experience." In his lover's ear, Greg confessed, "Truthfully, I'm still a little sore from pushin' the envelope this morning, so steer clear of my backdoor, okay? Totally my fault, not yours, before you go and get all tense and guilt-ridden."

"I wasn't gonna take any of the blame," Nick assured him. "I know it's not my fault." He started laughing, "You're the impatient horny little bastard who controls the shots. I'm just the sexy hot boy toy who does what he's told and happily lets you impale yourself on his girth."

Greg laughed all the way to the shower. "Wow! This stall really is huge. You could have a very comfortable three-some in here."

"Good thing too, since you're dating now." Nick opened the box of Irish Spring he had tossed on his bathroom counter earlier. "Though I can't imagine sweet little Mandy gettin' her freak on with us."

As Mandy stood at the sink sterilizing her rabbit vibrator with a Scientist's accuracy, she wondered if it would be wrong to go to bed with Greg on the first date. After spending so many Saturday nights with a synthetic man who couldn't hold or kiss her, she was desperate to share her sheets with the red-blooded geek who could make her juices flow with one dorky glance.

Looking down at her comfy sweat pants and Cal Poly t-shirt, she realized a trip to Victoria's Secret would be necessary. She'd even push past her fear of purchasing the fire-engine red lace thong she always admired when browsing the underwear section.

"You only have one chance at a first impression, Mandy Lynn Webster. If you want Greg to fall in love with you, you're going to have to go all out. This is no time to play it safe!"

"Careful, G!" Nick burst out laughing when his overzealous partner almost slipped and fell while trying to rise from his knees. "I wouldn't want you to break that sweet little ass of yours."

"I'm sure." Greg accepted Nick's helping hand and rose to his feet. "Are you up for returning the favor or would you rather just give me a hand?"

"To quote my first Little League coach, the only way to get better at somethin' is to hone your skills on a regular basis." The eager boyfriend moved in for a possessive kiss.

"Is it weird kissing me right after?" Greg asked with a curious lilt when their lips parted. "Some guys don't like to..."

"I always kissed girls after." With his fingers threaded in his lover's wet hair, Nick snatched a second, lustier smooch. "Oh, sorry…does it bother you?"

"Hell no, it turns me on."

"Of course it does, ya little perv." Nick winked. "Okay, stand right there." He positioned his lover's body. "Hold onto the towel rack though, because the sensation of both streams of water hittin' me while crashin' over the edge made me a little weak in the knees."

While gripping the metal bar, Greg studiously said, "As a scientist, I just want to say that I'm fully supportive of this intense experimentation phase."

Sitting on the closed toilet, Mandy carefully re-read the instructions on the home waxing kit she had purchased months ago but never used. "Remove wax immediately after spreading." Although she was terrified of the imminent pain, the never-lucky-in-love woman knew that men liked the waxed look and she was determined to go through with the tortuous process. No matter how much it hurt, it would be worth it when she was walking down the aisle in the gown of her dreams.

"It's a little pain in exchange for a lifetime of pleasure," she said like a mantra as she spread the wax. "No pain, no gain." With a shaky hand she picked up the cloth sheet and smoothed it over the wax-covered area. "The future Mrs. Mandy Webster-Sanders can do this!" After a deep breath, she yanked on the cloth and released a shriek that rattled the perfume bottles on the counter. "Oh! OH! OH!" While gasping for air, she wondered if lesbians minded excess body hair. "Damn, that hurt."

When she could finally see straight again, she glanced down and saw that she had a long way to go. "What?! All that pain for a square inch of hair!" She swore her cats were laughing at her. "Being a girl stinks."

"This reeks," Sara groaned while scraping roach and dog food vomit off the pet bed cover. "You're lucky you have a mom who can handle rough smells, Bruno." Suddenly she realized the dog was no longer in the room. "Bruno?!"

The happy-go-lucky pooch came trotting into the laundry room wagging his tail.

"Stay here, okay." Just as Sara was about to return to prepping the cover for washing, she noticed what appeared to be little beads stuck in the corner of Bruno's mouth. "What did you eat now?" She crouched down and slipped into the role of Trace Tech. "What are these things?"

When the CSI glanced up, she saw a trail of small beads leading down the hall. "What the…" As she followed the evidence her trepidation grew. "This doesn't look good." Her suspicions worsened when the dog took off in the opposite direction. "You didn't."

Unfortunately, he had.

"You ripped open your deluxe microbead-filled orthopedic bed." She recreated the crime in her head. "And while it was torn in your mouth, you shook it violently, catapulting little microbeads everywhere. All one million of them." Sara plopped onto the bed. "Should have bought that doggie crate." The Petsmart salesman had told them that crates weren't punishment, but a safe haven for dogs who are sometimes scared in a large house and prone to get into mischief that could accidentally result in injury or death. "I wonder if the 24-hour Wal-Mart around the corner sells crates?"

Walking out of Nick's bathroom with a towel around his waist, Greg said, "I'll stay up for twenty-four hours, go to bed at nine am, and wake up at seven. That should work." He crashed onto his partner's heavenly bed. "I've fantasized about sleeping on this cloud, so many times, I'm sure I'll sleep like a baby when the time comes."

"Uh, I don't think you bein' in my bed with me is a good idea," Nick remarked when he saw Greg toss his towel and duck under the covers.

"Why not?" It made no sense.

"Because my mom bought me the bed and the bedding." Tension seeped into the Texan's voice. "It's kinda like havin' sex with you under her roof, ya know? Disrespectful."

"Oh." Greg bolted up. "Yeah, I get what you're saying."

"Sorry."

"It's no big deal."

Watching his partner reluctantly leave the bed, Nick felt ridiculous. "What about this…we sleep in my room, but we fool around in yours? That way I don't feel disrespectful and we don't have to change the sheets after sex. We can just zip across the hall to sleep in the comfy bed and then we'll deal with the housekeepin' in your room when we wake up. What do you think? I think it's a win-win."

"It's great idea." Greg backed into the arms of the man who was still adjusting to his sexuality and sighed, "I'd rather sleep on the hardwood floor in your arms than go back to sleeping alone again."

"Aww." Nick embraced his lover, resting his chin on his shoulder. "I think my romantic nature might be rubbin' off on you, G."

"I know my craziness is rubbing off on you." Greg dropped to a soulful whisper, "That's good, isn't it? We're balancing each other out. You calm me down, I push you out of your comfort zone."

"I love it." The sentimental cowboy brushed a kiss over his partner's cheek. "I love you." Strengthening his hold, he shared, "It was great bein' on vacation with you, but I'm glad we're home startin' this next part of our lives. The plannin' for the future we did at the grocery store was fun. It feels great to have a future with someone, to have things to look forward to experiencin' together."

"What kind of dog do you want?" Greg asked, savoring the embrace and the joy of partnership. "Not a puppy, right? We should get one from a shelter, don't you think?"

"Definitely. People toss out perfectly good dogs every day."

"What about kids?"

"People toss them out too," Nick sadly replied. "We see that all the time."

"If we did the kid thing some day, do you think that's the route you'd want to go? Or would you want to do the surrogate method, so it's really yours?"

"I can't imagine the two of us taking care of a baby, can you?"

"Definitely not the breast feeding part, no." After a laugh together, Greg said, "I'm 110 confident that we could get my mom to pitch in with a baby in the beginning."

"Yeah, I believe that." What Nick couldn't believe was that his dreams of being a father could be a reality. It was thrilling.

"I don't know," Greg confessed, "I can't really picture me as a dad yet. Every once in a while I think it's something I want eventually, but I guess I'm not mentally there yet. My clock's not ticking and I still feel like a kid sometimes. What about you?"

"Holidays back in Dallas are when it hits me hard. Every single one of the sisters and my brother has kids. I look at them together while I'm sitting by the Christmas tree alone and yeah it's stupid, but…I feel little less important. I guess it's another one of those things I'm just programmed to believe is true." Rhythmically stroking Greg's arm, he shyly admitted, "The only other time I've ever felt an overwhelming urge is when I'm with Cassie. Like when I went to career day at her school because she didn't have a daddy. It was such a rush. I cried in my truck on the way home from there, partly because I was happy that I made that little girl's day, but mostly because I thought I'd never get to do it for real. If Social Services had called that day and said 'Would you adopt her, Mr. Stokes?', I would have jumped at the chance. It was that bad, G." Getting choked up, he said, "To answer your question, based on how I felt in that classroom with Cassie, it doesn't have to be my biological child. Kids love people who love them. They're easy to please. That's what breaks my heart when I see people treatin' 'em so bad. And there are so many being treated badly and abandoned. It kills me."

"I know." Greg turned just as Nick's first tear drop fell. "You're a good guy living in a shitty world and it brings you down, but from now on, I'm here to lift you right back up." He held him tight. "And for the record, I think any kid that gets you for a dad will be hitting the jackpot. I'll just be the goofball who teaches them how to swipe cookies before dinner and open and reseal their Christmas gifts without getting busted."

"You really do that?" Nick glanced up wiping his eyes. "But that ruins the surprise."

"No it doesn't. You're just surprised a little sooner than planned."

Before Nick could reply, the doorbell rang. "Speakin' of surprises, who could that be?"

"It's probably Tish, lookin' for a squish from her favorite cowboy." Greg gave his partner a reassuring hug. "That was a really nice talk."

"It was."

"To be continued." Greg snatched a kiss. "I'll throw on some pants and answer the door."

"Honey!" Grissom walked in the front door and tossed his briefcase. "I decided to work from home." When he didn't get a reply, he headed for their home office. "Sara?" His eyes popped when he saw his brand new roach habitat was destroyed and his prize winning Madagascars were nowhere to be found. "Sara?!"

As the panicked Entomologist rushed down the hall, he saw a mess of small white beads. "What the…" His bedroom was covered in them. "SARA!?" Fear flooded him as his mind jumped to the worst conclusions, but then he saw the ripped up pet bed and quickly surmised that the crimes had been committed by their new dog, not a vicious kidnapper. "Should have bought her a diamond ring." After a labored sigh, he headed for the medicine cabinet to pop some preventative migraine medication. "Wake me up from this nightmare."

"I'm Nicky's sister, Eileen," the conservatively dressed woman standing in the doorway announced while staring at the man she assumed was her brother's co-worker and roommate.

"Is he expecting you?" Greg asked while trying not to panic. "Because he didn't mention…"

"I talked to him a few days ago and asked him if I could stay. He said yes, but before I got to give him the specifics one of my kids got hurt and I had to end our call. He's not answered my calls or emails since. The whole family was terribly worried when I told them. Mama called the lab, but Nicky's boss was out of town. Instead, she spoke to a woman named Judy. At first she wouldn't say anything, citin' it was confidential, but when Mama went hysterical, the woman shared that Nicky had been forced to take some time off because he had accrued too much vacation. Do you know where he went and when he'll be back? If it's not for a while, I'll have to find a hotel I suppose."

Just as Greg was about to suggest the Comfort Inn down the road, Nick's voice boomed from down the hall.

"Who was it, G?!"

"Nicky! It's your sister!" Eileen shouted as she barged her way inside. "For Heaven's sake, you had us worried sick!"

Standing naked in the hallway, the stunned brother rushed to cover his privates. "Oh shit."

"My thoughts exactly," Greg muttered.

"Good Lord, Nicky! Put some clothes on!" Eileen whirled around, putting her back to him. "I can't believe you're still runnin' around in your birthday suit like you're four years old. If God intended for us to be naked he wouldn't have put fig leaves in the Garden of Eden." Seeing her brother's bare-chested roommate, she politely said, "And I'm sorry, but while I'm stayin' here, I'd like to request that you keep a shirt on, young man. I'm a forty-three year old married woman and it isn't proper to be in a room with a half-naked bachelor."

"Sorry, where are my manners." Greg hustled over to grab a t-shirt from the laundry pile in the hallway. And things were going so well.

While Gil was in the kitchen taking a break from vacuuming microbeads to drink a glass of ice water he heard keys in the front door. Only a half-million beads to go. This is what it must be like to be Greg when I give him those shitty assignments. As he placed his empty glass on the counter, the door opened.

"Hey," Sara greeted, surprise resonating in her voice. "Is everything okay? You said you were going to stay at the lab until three am."

"I brought a stack of paperwork home with me instead." With his eyes locked on Bruno the Destructor, he said, "Someone had a busier night than me from the looks of things around here."

"Ripping his bed wasn't the only travesty I'm afraid."

Gil moved his glare to Sara. "He ate my roaches, didn't he?"

"Technically, no. He didn't swallow."

"It's still murder," the CSI huffed. "What did you do with the bodies?"

"Oh." Sara flustered. "Did you want to bury them or something?"

"I have a roach graveyard at the body farm. I carve little tombstones for each one that passes." When he saw his significant other struggling with the revelation, he sighed, "I'm kidding. I was only asking if you found the bodies so we could account for all of them. As we know, they run very fast, odds are he didn't get all of them when he tipped the tank."

"Oh great." Sara immediately felt her skin crawling and heard the pitter-patter of tiny roach feet. "They're probably in our bed by now."

"No, they'll prefer somewhere dark and damp."

"You can't blame Bruno," Sara stated in defense of her pooch. "He probably thought it was a giant food dishes full of live treats. We need to dog-proof the house and we should have purchased the crate the Petsmart guy suggested. I just got one at the 24-hour Walmart. It's in my back seat."

"I'll go fetch it." Gil took the keys from her hand and marched for the door.

Sara smiled at her clueless dog. "He took the news better than I thought."

"I just got back tonight, Sis," the shell-shocked brother explained in a shaky voice, "only a couple of hours ago as a matter of fact. I was in Mexico. My cell wasn't pickin' up a signal down there and I let the battery die out. I haven't been able to check my messages yet."

"And I was at a Forensics conference in California," Greg added, "so I wasn't here to answer the house phone either. I took a day to visit with my parents when I was out there and literally returned within minutes of your brother."

"Then Greg and I went right out to the grocery store," Nick continued, "because we didn't have anything in the house to eat after bein' gone a while. That's why I haven't had time to check the house phone or my email."

While Eileen was distracted talking to her brother, Greg quietly moved to the kitchen counter and grabbed the bag full of condoms and Astroglide. "Speaking of e-mail, I just remembered that I had just IM'd my mom to tell her I was home safe when the doorbell rang. She's probably freaked thinking I was abducted when I answered the door. Excuse me, I'll be back in a minute." With the bag of sex supplies under his arm, he scurried for his bedroom.

"Greg seems like a very nice young man." Eileen studied the photos on the bookshelves, looking for clues about her brother's secretive life in Vegas, but all of the pictures were of Stokes family members. "You can tell a lot about a man by the way he treats his mama. Is he divorced or never married?"

"Never married."

"Is he seein' anyone?" she probed.

Feeling beads of sweat forming on his forehead, he fielded the next nosy question loud enough so Greg would hear the answer in his room, "He's datin' a girl at the lab, Mandy. She's a fingerprint analyst. It's only just startin' up though."

"And what about you, Nicky?" Eileen patted her jittery brother's cheek. "Have you settled down at all?"

"I have actually, but I'd really prefer not to discuss my love life right now, because I'm just comin' off a breakup with a lady I thought might be the one. That's why I went to Mexico. I needed to get away."

"Aww, Nicky." She gave him a hug. "I'll respect your wishes not to talk about it, but please cheer up. There are plenty of other fish in the sea and you'll find yourself a sweet, God-fearin' woman to bear you babies real soon, you'll see. I'll say an extra prayer for it every day until you do."

"Thanks, sis." Nick anxiously scanned the room for any gay-related evidence and was relieved to find nothing incriminating. "Sorry, I wasn't here to prepare for your visit. I never figured you to mean this week. I thought you were talkin' about the future when you said you'd be comin' to town."

"Really? I could swear I mentioned how the trip came about at the last minute." Truthfully, the ambush was part of her and sister Linda's plan to catch their brother off guard and see if he was hidin' anything from the family, like a woman they wouldn't approve of or a drug habit, or as scary as the thought was…a homosexual lifestyle. There had to be some reason he wasn't married and making babies like the rest of the family, especially since he's a healthy, attractive man with a respectable job and a charming personality. It didn't make sense and she was determined to figure things out and get him on the right track once and for all. "I'm a replacement for one of the women from church who couldn't go, Monica Hansen. Her father just passed from a battle with cancer and she's helpin' her mama cope. With the fees and the ticket paid for already, I jumped at the chance. All I have to take care of is meals, a rental car and my room. Our sometimes dear brother gave me a voucher he had for a free rental car and since you said I could bunk here, it's a bargain trip."

"Good for you," Nick pushed out a loving smile and lied right through it, "and me of course. I'm happy to have you here."

"And I'm happy to be here with you, Nicky." She pinched her little brother's cheeks just like she did when he was a boy. "And how great is it that you're off from work when I'm here! Now we can spend more time together. Ooh! The Christian Coalition Conference isn't sold out, why don't you buy a pass and go with me! I bet you have a million sad Sin City stories to tell. You could give testimony to the depravity in this town. And there will be lots of young, single Christian women there who I'm sure would love to marry you and make beautiful babies. What do you say, sugar?!"

"As great as that all sounds, I'm gonna have to pass. I can't get off track with my sleep schedule. I used to have no problem when I was younger, but now I have a real hard time adjustin' if I do, so I try never to mess up the rhythm. I sleep every day from about ten to six, give or take some hours dependin' on how tired or rested I am, but we can still have breakfast and dinner together, right? I eat breakfast before headin' to bed and dinner around eight pm usually. How long are you stayin' again?"

"Until Friday mornin'. A continental breakfast is included with the conference, but dinner would be great every night. It'll be just like when we were growin' up. I'll make your favorite chili and cornbread for tomorrow at eight then. If there's anythin' else special, you just tell me and I'll cook it."

He did the math and cringed. "Six days. Wow. Uh, yeah…chili and cornbread would be nice, thanks. Meatloaf is always good too."

"I'll do both then. Now, if you'll show me where I'll be sleepin', I'll get these cases out of your way."

"Oh, uh, right this way." He carried the luggage for her. "Just so you know…Greg's room is here on the right and mine's across the hall from his. The guest room is the last door on the left. It has its own bathroom, so you don't have to worry about privacy." He walked inside, set down the luggage and then returned to the hallway. "It's real clean. Greg's mom was just out here for a spell and she cleaned it all and put fresh sheets on the bed before leavin'. So, you're all set."

"Aww, that's sweet that your roomie is a family man too."

"Oh yeah, Greg's from a real good family."

"What church do they attend?"

"Uh, it's um…a non-denominational one, he told me the name once, but I don't remember it."

"That's okay. As long as they've accepted Jesus as their personal savior, they're just as blessed as the rest of us, right, Nicky?"

"Amen." He nodded, recalling why he could only tolerate Eileen in small doses. While his parents and siblings were all devout Christians, only Eileen and Linda were hardcore proselytizers.

"I'm back!" Greg cheerily announced upon emerging from his room. Just in case their guest was a snoop, he had taken a few minutes to hide his porn and sex toys. "Sorry I took so long, my mom is very chatty."

Eileen smiled at the friendly man, "I hope you don't think me too rude, Greg, but I'm beat from a full day with the kids and a night of traveling, so I'm just gonna hit the hay. Thank you for the warm welcome, I'll be sure to add you to my prayer list tonight."

"Thanks, but you don't have to do that," Greg sweetly replied. "The big guy and I have an understanding. I help catch evil bad guys and don't bug Him with minor requests, and in return, He's there when I'm in big trouble, like when I was getting my ass kicked by a mob. There are plenty of people who need Him a lot more than me right now, like the hungry or the soldiers in Iraq or the orphan kids with AIDS in Africa. You can give them my prayer time."

"Oh you're so right about those poor children dying of the gay plague." Eileen shook her head. "They are the innocent victims of God's wrath against the homosexuals. My church has two missions in Africa and the stories the missionaries tell when they come home to Dallas are just horrific."

Nick stayed quiet as a church mouse.

Greg, on the other hand, couldn't wait to reply, "But if God doesn't make mistakes, how did innocent children get victimized by a disease God created to kill off homosexuals? That would be a huge mistake on His part, wouldn't it? And what about the women who had the babies?"

Having heard this debate a half dozen times, Nick already knew his sister's answers.

"God doesn't make mistakes, Greg, only people do." Eileen said with disgust, "Gay men pretendin' to be straight had sex with straight women and gave them the disease. They're all tricksters you know. They marry women while havin' vile affairs with men. Those poor women had infected babies."

Greg countered, "But we're talking about our all-powerful God here. I'm a DNA scientist and being familiar with genetics, I have to wonder, if God only wanted gay men to die, then why didn't he create a disease that wouldn't infect women? If he had made it gender specific and designed it to attack when two men engaged in sex, then all the gay men would have gotten sick, but not the women they slept with and consequently not their babies. Hemophilia is a great example of a gender-specific disease, so there is precedent. If God can create diseases that only target men 99 of the time, then why didn't he do it again when he whipped up AIDS to wipe out the gays?"

Nick waited for his sister's reply, but Greg continued before one came.

"And what about his method of delivery? Are you saying that God infected apes in Africa and then waited for chimps to catch the disease, then waited again for hunters, presumably gay ones, to kill and eat chimps, then waited for the disease to morph from Simian Immunodeficiency Virus into Human Immunodeficiency Virus in the gay hunters' blood, and then waited again for the gay hunters to have sex with other gay men? I will say this…it was good idea timing all that with the advent of mass plane travel, because it spread a lot faster having all the gay men flying around the world, but still, it's a pretty convoluted plan that has completely spiraled out of control killing off millions of innocent children, women, transfusion patients and hemophiliacs. Statistics show that approximately 47 percent of AIDS patients contracted the disease from male-male contact, that means God's gay plague got it wrong 53 percent of the time. If I made mistakes 53 percent of the time at work, I'd be fired!" Greg shook his head, "No, as I see it, I either have to believe God is really bad at carrying out targeted wrath, or that AIDS wasn't God's doing anymore than small pox or bird flu is. I pick the latter."

After a moment of silence, Eileen replied, "Sweetie, you're forgettin' to factor in the devil's interference with God's work. But we'll have to talk about that tomorrow, because like I said, I'm beat from the day I've had. I'm headin' in my room here and passin' out. Good night!"

"Night, sis."

"Nice meeting you, good night." When the guest room door shut, Greg rubbed his hands together. "This is going to be a lot more fun than I imagined." He followed his partner into the kitchen grinning.

"We have to stay two feet apart in front of her and sleep in our own rooms."

Greg' smile vanished. "It's back to being completely not fun."

"And from now on, don't debate with her. It's a waste of time and oxygen, G. No matter how smart or right you are, you're not gonna change her mind. She absolutely believes what she preaches and when somethin' doesn't make sense, you saw what she does…she rationalizes that it's the devil's work. That's the catch all. My mother doesn't agree with most of the stuff Eileen says, but if she won't listen to her own mother, she's not gonna listen to you. She's hardcore, she won't let her kids dress up on Halloween with their cousins and goes off about the commercialization of Christmas every year while we're openin' gifts." Nick made one last plea, "For my sake, just do whatever needs to be done to make these days pass without drama. I'm completely on edge as it is, remember? I don't need extra stress."

"You're right. I promise. No matter what she says, I'll just keep quiet or nod." Greg embraced his troubled partner. "It's five days. It'll go fast. I'll get a motel room for the week so we can have an escape, that'll help."

"Okay." Just as Nick was about to say 'we better not hug, because Eileen may need something and walk out here', she did just that.

"Oh!" Eileen froze when she saw the two men embracing.

Greg burst into crocodile tears. "Thanks for telling me it'll be okay, buddy." He rushed to the kitchen sink and washed his face, pretending it was tear-stained.

"My goodness, what's wrong?" Eileen queried.

Nick covered, "Uh, I'm not sure he wants you to know, sis, it's kind of personal."

"It's okay." Greg dabbed his wet face with a dish towel. "Since the beating, I suffer from PTSD and sometimes the silliest things set me off." It wasn't a lie. "Your brother has been a godsend to be honest. Taking me in his home and counseling me. Since he's lived through a similar experience, he knows just what to say." It was all true. "I have a lot of trouble sleeping and unlike most guys who would have macho issues, he doesn't even mind me sleeping in his bed if I'm shaking real bad from a nightmare and can't get any rest for work. Just don't tell anyone I said that, because I'd hate for people to start saying we're queer." He took great pride in sticking to the truth. "That's why my mom was staying here for a while, she worries about me. When she was here, she asked Nick to lookout for me. My parents love him like a son." He put his arm around his lover. "Isn't that right?"

"Yeah." Nick simultaneously felt anxious, relieved and entertained all at the same time.

"You poor, poor man." Eileen placed her hand on her heart. "I sure hope God's next plague is directed at those vile gang bangers who hurt you and make the streets unsafe for decent folk. I'll add that in my prayers tonight." She pointed to the fridge. "Do you have a water bottle, Nicky? This desert climate has me parched."

Staring at their new baby sleeping soundly in his crib, Gil asked, "What if he needs water in the middle of the night?"

"I'm sure he'll cry or bark if he needs something, right?"

"I guess we'll find out soon enough."

Sara glanced over smiling. "Our co-workers would be shocked to see us acting like parents."

"I think most of them believe I was born on another planet and not even capable of human reproduction."

After a purr, Sara replied, "I know you're more than capable of the act of reproduction. You excel at it."

"I'm sure our co-workers would find that hard to believe too," he droned.

"When you were at the lab, were there any signs of Hodges starting rumors?"

"Not that I could tell."

Sara breathed a sigh of relief. "Hopefully he dropped it."

As he did every night, Hodges took a seat in front of his computer to search for information on his co-workers. Over the years he had found all sorts of tidbits and photos that provided him great enjoyment and in some cases, furthered his career with LVPD. After cracking his knuckles, he started typing the usual names and combinations of names, using a variety of search tools that checked websites, blogs and MySpace pages.

Gil Grissom
Gil Grissom and Sara Sidle
Tony Vartann and Conrad Ecklie
Naked Wendy Simms

While chomping on Fritos and watching his favorite Dukes of Hazzard video, he watched search after search come back with nothing new and/or exciting.

Greg Sanders and Nick Stokes

"What the…" Scrambling for the computer mouse, Hodges spilled his Fritos. "A proud PFLAG mom's website dedicated to her son and his partner." He was so excited, he temporarily forgot to breathe and almost passed out, but when his circulation returned to normal, he leapt from his chair. "JACKPOT!"

After taking a victory lap past his shelves of pristinely wrapped action figures, he began pacing the room wondering what to do with the mind-blowing information. Exposing them would bring only fleeting joy and it was kind of cruel, especially after what Greg had been through in the past year. "Hmm. What to do, what to do..."

ANs:

Thank you to everyone who returned to read the 2nd story in this series! I hope there was enough in this first chapter to make you want to stick around : ) I have A LOT planned for this story.

An important note: Throughout the story, some characters will be slightly flawed and some will be majorly flawed. Some will try to set things right, others won't care who they hurt. The thing I want to stress is - no single character represents an entire group. For instance, Eileen is written as an individual and isn't intended to be the author's view of every woman or Christian or Texan or Neo-Con Republican – no more than Warrick is meant to represent every African American man or Greg is meant to represent every gay man. My intent isn't to offend or misrepresent any group. Every group has extremists on the left and right and all kinds of people in between. I try my best to paint a realistic picture and include a variety of characters for balance : )

Thanks so much for reading and for sharing your thoughts! Your feedback during Where You Are was incredibly inspirational and motivational. I can only hope for the same type of synergy between readers and author for this story as well.

Next Chapter Posting – Late Thursday PST, July 12th A big thanks to KJT for editing in between boxing matches with kangaroos in Oz!

Maggs