AN: This is a revised version posted a few hours after the original. It contains several paragraphs of new material.

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

Chapter 36: When You Wish Upon a Star

Flopping onto their cushy hotel bed, Greg chuckled, "After two and half days of non-stop Disney fun, I don't think I have enough energy left to kiss you, Cletus." Closing his eyes, the joyous and loud sounds of the day echoed in his head. "I think I want to take a nap too."

"C'mon, don't tell me Peter Pan is getting too old for Disneyland," Nick elbowed his husband in the ribs. "Say it isn't so."

"I feel like I just pulled three doubles."

"Technically you did," Nick laughed. "I think you're lettin' this birthday go to your head, G….and your body." Loving every second of their family vacation, he said, "Yeah, I'm as exhausted as I would be at work, but I'm a hell of a lot happier." Snuggling close, he closed his eyes. "But I'm always happy when I'm at Disneyland with you."

"Except the first time we were here." Recalling the drama, Greg opened his eyes. "When we had that ridiculous fight over Lacey. Remember that?"

"Now I do." It was hard to believe only seven years had passed, because it felt like a lifetime ago. "I was worried that you were gonna dump me and run off to play daddy with your Ex and her kids."

"While I was trying to tell you how much I wanted to play daddy to our own kids." Grinning, the exhausted 40 year old, said, "If I had known how tired I would be playing daddy, I would have run off with a pool lifeguard that day we argued."

"You don't mean that."

"Nope." Greg caressed a tender kiss over his spouse's lips. "I wouldn't trade my life for anything, not even twelve hours of uninterrupted…"

"Pappa…"

"…sleep." Greg propped up on his elbows to smile at their daughter who had just turned six a few weeks ago. "What's goin' on, Princess Haleigh?" She was still wearing the Cinderella outfit Nana Jan had specially made for the trip.

Her long blond curls bouncing as she skipped into the room, Haleigh said, "It hurts to sleep with my hair in pony tails." After pouncing onto the bed, she scooted between her fathers. "Sorry, but I can't take a nap."

Nick gently tugged on his daughter's left ponytail. "Sweetie, how about we take out the pony tails so you can rest for a couple of hours and then we'll redo 'em before we meet your grandparents and aunts for dinner?"

"I'm six now. I'm too old for naps."

"I want a nap!" Greg laughed. "And I'm waaaaay older than you, munchkin."

The imaginative child replied, "So why don't you pretend you're four like Garrett and sleep in the other bedroom with him while I'll stay in here and watch TV." She snatched the remote. "We need to catch up on the day's sports scores anyway, right Daddy?" At home they snuggled on the couch and watched Sportscenter almost daily.

Nick smiled at the sweetheart who was a carbon copy of Greg with the exception of having Tawny's hair and athleticism. "Always thinkin' up a plan, aren't ya?"

"A brain is a terrible thing to waste," she deadpanned.

"Isn't that cute?" Greg chuckled. "I said that and now she keeps telling other people. Grissom told me she said it when she was over there playing with Erin. He thought it was a gas." The proud father scooped up their daughter into his arms. "C'mon, I'm gonna brush out your ponytails so you're comfy and then you can watch cartoons on the couch. That way you won't wake your little brother or daddy and me. If you happen to get sleepy watching the Disney Channel, you can take nap."

"Okay," she agreed without hesitation, "but I bet I don't get sleepy."

"That's a sucker bet, G, don't take it." Nick crashed back onto the pillows. "She'll be wakin' us up just like yesterday and the day before."

"Yep." Greg popped into the bathroom to get Haleigh's hairbrush and his nail clippers before heading out to the main room of the suite.

"Don't cut my hair when you clip my hair bands."

Sitting his daughter on the couch, Greg comically exaggerated his reply. "What?! What did you just say?! Have I ever cut your hair when I snip your hair bands?"

"No," she giggled.

"That's right." After pulling out her hair bows, he quickly clipped both of the plastic bands. "I'm the man when it comes to hair. I brush, I comb, I braid, I even French braid. You're in good hands, Missy. Pfft. Snow White and Cinderella wish they had me around to do their hair." After a minute of brushing, he kissed the top of Haleigh's head. "You're all set. I'll go grab your pillow and blanket from your bedroom."

"And my Pooh bear!" Remembering her brother was sleeping, the responsible big sister lowered her voice to a whisper, "Sorry for yelling."

"Don't worry, he won't wake up. Upon entering bedroom, Greg checked on Garrett. "You and your daddy sleep like rocks when you're exhausted." Smiling, he affectionately ran his fingers through the little jock's dark brown hair. "And you both drool." With his new buzz cut, the boy looked exactly like Nick in his childhood photos.

Staring at the poster of Greg's childhood pictures that Cassie and Dave had made, Jan's eyes welled. "I can't believe my baby is forty."

"He doesn't act forty." Putting a few finishing touches on the poster she was making, Jenni said, "What I can't believe is that the forensics genius hasn't figured out we're throwing him a big surprise party."

"Maybe his investigative skills are slipping now that he's been out of the field for four years, two months and six days…not that I'm counting." Jan's cheeriness momentarily gave way to melancholy. "It seems like yesterday though, doesn't it?"

"Yeah." Jenni's smile faded as she recalled her adoptive mother's hysteria upon hearing that Warrick Brown and two police officers had been killed in a drive-by shooting only minutes after her brother had left their side at the scene. Suddenly the memory of Jan on her knees begging Greg to quit his job popped in her head and she could hear her sobbing and telling him that Haleigh would be devastated if she had to grow up without her father. Next came the image of her terrified brother crying and nodding as he clutched his daughter. "It was the right decision."

"Yes, it was a win-win for all. Just look at what Greg's accomplished in four years," the proud mother said, trying to shift her mind off somber thoughts. "He went from Lead Tech to DNA Lab Manager in record time." She never missed an opportunity to tell friends and strangers that her boy was in charge of the second most sophisticated DNA lab in the country, the first belonging to the Feds. "Did he tell you he's going to be a keynote speaker at the big forensics conference next month?"

"No, but you did twice." Jenni hugged her mom tight. "I hope I can make you half as proud one day."

"Oh, honey, you already have." The loving mother stroked her daughter's hair. "A 4.0 going into your senior year at Stanford." She winked. "Gregory only had a 3.8."

"I know." The competitive brainiac rubbed her hands together. "I can't wait to shove my grade report in his face when I get it. I really hope Cassie will change her mind about Stanford, because Greg would be really ticked if both of us did better than him."

"She won't change her mind. She only applied to Stanford and UCLA so we'd get off her back." Her frustration over her daughter's decision behind her, Jan calmly said, "Even though Nicky practically ordered her to go, she refuses to be away from him. When she was 13 she said she wanted to go to college at UNLV and work at the Lab, and she's never changed her mind, so I believe her." Sighing, she added, "Honestly, it's a blessing, because Haleigh and Garrett are used to having their Aunt Cassie in their lives full time."

"Maybe I should come home and go to UNLV for medical school." When her Stanford-obsessed mother shot her a death glare, Jenni laughed, "Just kidding, I love Stanford and Sean Blake way too much to come home, not that I don't love you guys too."

"I can't thank Carrie enough for introducing you to her sweet, scholarly nephew." If ever there was a guy who wouldn't recklessly get a girl pregnant, it was respectful and responsible Sean. "He's such a nice young man."

"He's a big time geek, mom, you can say it."

"Hey, I gave birth to a big time geek, so you know I approve of you dating one."

"The Grissoms are in the parking lot!" Cassie cheered as she rushed out of the bedroom. "They just called my cell. They were worried about getting caught if they checked in, but I told them Nick is making sure Greg stays in the suite until the party later. They also wanted me to tell you that the Board meeting at the Warrick Brown Community Center ran long and Catherine and Jim missed their flight. They're trying to get on the next one."

"Thank you, honey." Jan picked up the guest list to check off 'Gil, Sara, and Erin'. "Mandy called earlier and said one of the twins had an earache so Henry was going to take him to the doctor for a quick check before they left. Wendy and Hodges got in yesterday because they had some kind of crazy Star Trek convention they wanted to go to."

"If you ask me they're a little over the top with the Trekkie stuff." Laughing, Cassie peered at the list. "Bobby and Roy are driving out with Carrie, Jean and their kids and should get her within the hour." She turned to her sister. "Hey did you hear Carrie's pregnant with number three?"

Jenni stopped color her poster. "Really?"

"Yes," Jan caught up her daughter on the latest news, "With Peyton turning six and Connor going to kindergarten in the fall, Carrie got a nasty case of empty nest syndrome. With Roy consumed with his medical internship this year and residency on the horizon, Bobby has plenty of time to play daddy, so he decided the third time would be a charm. She's eleven weeks tomorrow."

"Good for them," Jenni smiled, remembering how devastated Carrie initially was when Nick turned her down. "They seemed so happy at Christmas."

"They are, and the kids are adorable. I ask Carrie, Jean, and Bobby to speak at PFLAG meetings with me all the time, because if there ever was a model for co-parenting success, it's them. Roy comes sometimes too, but his schedule is crazy. I'm taking them to a meeting in La Brea tomorrow as a matter of fact."

"Cool. Now answer my other burning question – what time is Tawny's hot doctor boyfriend getting here?" Jenni was anxious to meet her big sister's much-lauded beau. Originally she was to meet him at Christmas, but on the day she was to arrive, the good doctor was asked to join an emergency medical team responding to a crisis in Africa." "I want to see if he's as studly as he is in photos."

"He is," Jan and Cassie chimed before breaking into laughter.

"All the gays think he's hot," Jan joked, "and you know how picky they are. Roy said even though he's told all his fellow interns that Manny is madly in love with Tawny, some of them still get tongue-tied whenever Dr. McHottie conducts rounds with them."

"Tawny and Manny have known each other about ten months now," Cassie said while tying ribbons on party favors, "and he's taking her to New Mexico for his cousin's wedding next weekend and he's going to introduce her to his parents. That means he's totally serious. Do you think he'll pop the question soon, Mom?"

Jan snickered, "If you swear on your trust funds not to blab, I'll answer that question."

"Promise!" the sisters replied without hesitation.

"Tonight during the Disneyland fireworks."

"No way!" Cassie couldn't contain her excitement. "I didn't think it would be this soon."

"Well, originally he was going to wait until for her birthday, but he told your father and me that he wanted to introduce Tawny as his fiancée, not his girlfriend. He's anticipating that his parents are going to be more than a little disturbed by some aspects of Tawny's life story, specifically her decision to conceive and carry two babies for Greg and Nick. He warned us that his parents are very conservative Catholics who were actively involved in the campaign against the national Gay Marriage legislation that passed last year. So before he explains everything to them, he wants them to understand that he's already set on marrying Tawny."

Jenni huffed, "They'll probably be those kind of people who don't get emotional or outraged when they find out Tawny was raped by her mother's boyfriend and kicked out of her home at sixteen to fend for herself, but they go nuts when they hear she chose to bring two babies into this world for a happily married gay couple."

"It's ridiculous, I know." The frustrated mother and PFLAG President said, "The people who get the most disgusted with Tawny are always the ones who protest abortion and talk about protecting children from abuse."

"I get the most ticked at the ones who assume she only did it because she was strapped for cash." Jenni rolled her eyes. "Like it wouldn't be easier for someone as attractive as Tawny to make money without going through nine months of pregnancy and the pain of childbirth. When I tell the judgmental jerks that she used her compensation money to get a college degree and go to law school so she can put scumbags behind bars and keep them away from innocent children, some of the bastards have the nerve to reply 'if she really cared about children she wouldn't be letting queers raise her babies'."

"If Manny's parents say that to her face..."

"Hey!" Cassie interjected, knowing exactly how riled Jan and 'Mini-Jan' Jenni could get when set off about gay rights and surrogate mothers. "Let's stick to happy thoughts today."

"Tell me the story of the day I was born," Haleigh requested as she snuggled her blankie on the couch.

"You're not bored of that one yet?" Greg replied, taking a seat on the floor in front of her.

"Nope. That one and the one about my first birthday party are my favorites. You should write a book about those stories instead of writing another one on Las Vegas. We could do it together. You can type the words, and I can draw the pictures. Daddy says my drawings are awesome, that's why he always asks if he can take them to work." She was counting the days until she was old enough to get an LVPD guest pass and take a tour of the Lab she heard so much about. "What does he do with them at work? I hope he doesn't throw them away like Lexie's mom does when she thinks Lexie isn't looking."

"Are you kidding?" Criss-crossing his heart, Greg said, "I swear Supervisor Stokes has every one of your beautiful pictures and Garrett's scribbles hanging up on the side wall of his office. He also has ones from Cassie and every picture or thank you card any kid has ever made for him. Whenever he's sad or angry at work because of a bad guy, he stares at the wall of pictures to cheer himself up. I do too. A lot of people do, your artwork is kinda famous actually. And whenever we have a child witness or victim there, Daddy brings them to his office because seeing your wall of pictures makes the place a lot less scary."

"He really does that?"

"Yep, first he shows them the photos of you and Garrett that he has on his desk, so they know he's a dad who likes children. After that, he shows them the wall and talks about how he loves drawing pictures with his kids. Then he puts a stack of paper and a bucket of crayons on a table in the office and says 'let's color'. Eventually he gets them to draw a picture of the bad guy or the bad thing that happened to them, which is cool, because drawing about bad stuff is a lot easier for kids than talking about it. Daddy gets them to tell the whole story before they even know they did."

"Daddy's really good at his job, huh."

"Yeah." Greg sweetly ruffled his daughter's hair. "That's one of the reasons I fell in love with him."

"I bet Daddy would love our book with your words and my drawings, 'cause he could read it to scared kids. Can't you stop writing the Las Vegas book and…"

"Sweetie, I know you hate it when I go in my office to write and put the 'do not disturb' sign on my door, but the thing is, those books make money for our family." Trying to make her understand, he said, "A check from my publisher paid for that cruise you loved last year."

"Oh." After pondering the information for a moment, she said, "So you mean we can't go on another cruise if you don't write another book? That's okay, camping is fun too."

"No, it's not!" he laughed. "Anyway, I have to finish the third book, because the project is a series of three stories and it won't be complete if I don't do part three. Nobody likes an unfinished story. Wouldn't you be bummed if Cinderella ended before the prince found her?" While she nodded, he said, "As soon as I'm done with the series, I promise we'll write a book together."

"Deal…but write fast."

"I'll do my very best." Hoping to soothe her into a nap, he began rhythmically stroking her long blond locks. "Once upon a time your Daddy and I were waaaaaaaaay out in the desert working with our friends Sara and Grissom. We were all very, very sad because this bad guy we had been trying to catch for months had hurt more people that night, including a mommy with a baby in her tummy. While we were working really hard trying to find clues like footprints and strands of hair that would tell us who the bad guy was and how to find him, it suddenly started to rain buckets. That made us angry, because we knew all the clues would be washed away before we could find them and the bad guy would probably have time to hurt more innocent people."

"But he was caught while I was being borned and is rotting up in jail for life!"

"Hey, don't skip ahead to the future while we're in the middle of the story." Greg laughed, "That only worked well for LOST."

"Lost?"

"It was a TV series that was on from 2004 to 2010. You can watch the DVDs with Daddy and me when you're older. Now where was I?"

"It just started to rain."

"Right. As we were working in the rain getting wetter and sadder, my cell phone rang. I expected it to be someone from work, but when I answered it, I heard my mom saying the best words ever."

"Do the Nana Jan crazy voice!"

"Of course." Greg did a perfect imitation of his hysteria-prone mother. "The baby is coming! The baby is coming! Hurry! We'll meet you and Nicky at Desert Palms! I can't believe I'm going to be a grandma! Drive carefully, Gregory!"

"Yep, that's the voice."

"I closed the phone and shouted 'Tawny's having the baby!' Everyone started yelling and cheering. Daddy went crazy and rushed forward to hug me, but the ground was slippery from the rain, so he ended up sliding and tackling me. Bam! Before I knew what happened, I landed in a giant mud puddle on my butt and Daddy fell on top of me. Thud!" That part always made her giggle.

"I can't wait to draw the picture of you getting splatted."

"And I can't wait to see it," he replied before continuing. "The Grissoms helped us to our feet as Captain Brass yelled 'I'll drive you to the hospital!' which was great, because we were too nervous and excited to drive carefully and he had a police siren and permission to go real fast. The whole way there we were trying to guess if you would be a boy or a girl. We bet on everything - the color of your eyes, your weight, how many inches you would be." He silently laughed at the memory of Jim betting him a c-note that Nick's jock sperm had won the fertilization race. "Daddy was sure you were going to be a boy, but I was certain we were having a girl."

"I'm glad I wasn't borned a boy, because then there wouldn't be any girls in our house."

"Yeah, and I wouldn't have any hair to braid."

"You could still braid Sugar's mane," the pony lover reminded her father.

"We probably wouldn't have a pretty pony named Sugar if we had two boys."

"Oh, right."

"When we got to the hospital, Daddy and I were so anxious to see your Aunt Tawny that we forgot we were wet, muddy, and wearing our LVPD jackets and ball caps. As we ran through the lobby and down the hall, everyone freaked out thinking we were chasing a bad guy through the hospital. Alarms sounded, the front doors locked, and security came running, because they worried a baby napping was in progress."

"That's gonna be a funny picture too. Kinda like the one where everyone is running through the hospital to catch Curious George on the runaway wheelchair."

"It was exactly like that actually," he chuckled. "After we cleared everything up with the security and the police, we finally got to see Aunt Tawny. Thanks to a special shot called an epidural, she was feeling great and she looked radiant, like a beautiful princess. When she saw me and your Daddy rush into the room breathless and worried, she started to cry and she told us 'I can't wait to do this for you', which made us and Aunt Jenni, Aunt Cassie and Grandpa and Nana cry too."

"Then Nana Jan yelled at you for being too dirty to be around a baby."

"Yeah. Thankfully a nice nurse felt gave us scrubs and showed us where we could take a hot shower."

"And you were sooooo worried that you'd miss me being borned, that you took the fastest shower of your life."

"That's right." Grinning, he tapped her button nose with his finger. "But we could have taken a six hour shower and not missed a thing. When the doctor finally said it was time for Aunt Tawny to push you out..."

"You forgot to say what you did while you were waiting for me to pop out."

"Oops." He filled in the blank. "First we watched the The Wizard of Oz for good luck, just like we did on the day you started to grow inside Aunt Tawny's tummy. After that we played Monopoly until she yelled 'get the doctor! The baby is coming!"

"Yay!"

"While the doctor was washing her hands and putting on gloves to catch you, Daddy took Aunt Tawny's left hand and I took her right. We knew the pushing part might hurt a little, so we kissed her on the cheek and thanked her in advance for being so special and brave." He wisely chose to skip over the thirty minutes of hardcore pushing that made Tawny frantically cry for her deceased father; the scary moment when a nurse said the baby's heart rate was plummeting; his mother panicking that her grandchild was going to be stillborn just like her two daughters had been; and the gruesome episiotomy that Cassie watched with great curiosity until she vomited all over the floor. "One giiiiiiiiiant push and we heard the doctor yell 'it's a girl!'"

"A girl baby covered in icky goo," she giggled, remembering how gross she looked in the photos taken by her Grandpa.

"Yeah, but even covered in icky goo you were the most beautiful thing we had ever seen." He paused to place a tender kiss on her forehead. "When you cried for the very first time…" He always choked up thinking of his mother dropping to her knees to thank God for her granddaughter being born alive and well. "Everyone in the room cheered when they heard you wailing. Daddy and I hugged Aunt Tawny tight and together we cried huge tears of incredible joy." Caressing his daughter's cheek, he smiled, "Then the nurse wrapped you in a blankie and placed you on Aunt Tawny's chest. It was the most thrilling moment of our lives, and just as Daddy reached out to hold your teeny tiny right hand, I slipped my finger into your itty bitty left hand."

"And I grabbed it!" Haleigh snatched her father's pointer finger. "Then I looked into your eyes."

"And with your eyes you said," he mimicked a baby girl voice, "'Hi! Are you the goofy guy who's been singing silly songs to me for nine months or the one with the accent who has been talking about football, ponies, and good nutrition?"

"No." Her reply was momentarily interrupted by a yawn. "I was saying, 'being born made me hungry. Somebody feed me."

"You're probably right," Greg teased, "because you stopped yelling as soon as I stuffed a bottle in your big mouth." When he saw Haleigh yawn a third time, he stroked her hair and whispered, "That will always be one of the best days of my life, along with my wedding day, your brother's birthday, the first time your daddy said he loved me, and the day I didn't die."

"And while you were feeding me my first bottle, Daddy got a phone call saying Sara caught the bad guy." Her eyes closing, Haleigh dreamily said, "I love happy endings."

"Doesn't everyone?" After brushing a kiss over his daughter's cheek Greg stood and returned to the bedroom. "Believe it or not, she's asleep." When he didn't get a reply, he chuckled, "And so are you. How is everyone asleep but me when I was the one who was desperate for a nap?" Shaking his head, he climbed into bed and burrowed into his husband's arms. "Mmm." Ready to welcome the Sandman, he closed his eyes.

"Pappa…"

No! Greg opened his eyes, hoping he had imagined their son's voice. "Hey, Rett. What's going on?"

"I'm done napping."

"What a coincidence." The exhausted father had to laugh. "I'm done napping too."

"Wanna play pirates with me?" The four and a half year old brandished the sword his grandpa had given him that morning.

"Sure."

"Wait…do you know how to play pirates, Pappa?"

"Believe it or not, kiddo, before you and Haleigh were born, I used to play pirates with your Daddy all the time." Greg smiled at his fond memories of Captain Jack role play adventures and outrageous booty jokes. "Yeah, we were quite the Swashbucklers back in the days before you and your sister came along." Standing up, he took their son by the hand and led him out of the room. "But for the record, Daddy and I like the days after you guys were born even more."

"Me too."

"Wanna go across the hall and make Nana Jan walk the plank?"

"Arrrrrrrr!" Garrett raised his sword. "Then she can't tell us what to do anymore!"

At times like these Greg found it hard to believe the boy didn't have an ounce of his DNA. "Arrrrrr!" He yelled, dashing into the hallway. "This way, ya scurvy lad!"

The pirate wannabe knocked on his grandparents' door with his giant plastic sword and when his Nana answered he yelled, "We're here to make you walk the plank! Arrrrrr! Get her, Pappa!"

"No!" Jenni shouted when she saw the guest of honor dash into the living room full of party supplies, place cards, and photo posters.

"What's going on?" the birthday boy asked, as the answer became increasingly obvious.

"Where's Nicky?" Jan snarled, "He's supposed to be keeping you in your suite until 6:30 so the surprise party wouldn't be ruined."

"Doh." Greg knew his husband was a dead man. "He fell asleep."

Jan rolled her eyes. "I give him one job!"

"Run for it, Matey!" Greg grabbed his son's hand and dashed for the door. "We need to warn Daddy he's in trouble!"

"It's going to take more than two pirate-wannabes to save Captain Snooze's booty!" Jan half-joked.

"Daddy! Daddy! Wake up!" Garrett shouted while running into the bedroom waving his sword. "Nana Jan is comin' for you!"

Startled from slumber, the confused man bolted up in bed. "What's wrong?! What's going on?!"

"Don't hurt him, Mommy!" Greg dove onto the bed in front of his clueless husband. "He didn't mean to fall asleep and ruin the surprise party by not keeping me in the room!"

"Oh, sh…" Nick covered his gaping mouth. "Sorry, Jan."

Watching his loving-but-crazy mother yell at his groveling husband while Garrett jumped up and down on the bed waving his sword and singing 'Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a Pirate's Life for Me', Greg laughed, "I love the party so far! Yeah, let's do this every year!"

And they all lived happily ever after…most of the time.

The End

ANs:

This "sudden flash forward" conclusion to the story was inspired by LOST Season 3, Episode 22 'Through the Looking Glass'.

I intended to write a third, shorter book in 'The Rascal Flatts Series' called Here (after the Rascal Flatts song by the same name of course. Look up the lyrics of that song if you want to get a feel for what the theme was going to be.) If I have time and the itch to write, I'll fill in some blanks through flashbacks and tell more of the story from this '7 years in the future' point. I will post new installments under the title Here as stand alone chapters.

If there was something left unanswered that you have to know feel free to ask. I'll do my best to fill in the blank.

If you want to receive an alert about any future writing, you can add me to your Author Alert list on or join the Yahoo alert list (the link is at the end of every chapter posted on my website).

For LOM readers – I thought Jenni would be the perfect girl for Sean Blake! And I could totally see Dr. Manny Ortiz putting his Ladies Man past behind him and falling for Tawny. I hope you could too.

Thank you for reading and your support along the way!

Thanks to my hubby and Veronica10 for happily pre-reading and a huge thanks to KJT for editing all 300,000 words with a cyber smile!

Take care,
Maggs

P.S. I intend to finish LOM too.