Chapter 5

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Chapter List

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June

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Nick poked his head into the DNA lab before making his way to the break room. Greg was on the phone, writing away in a folder as he talked. As Nick looked his boyfriend over, he noticed shoe-less feet tapping away to the beat of some unheard song. He shook his head in amusement and was turning to leave when Greg caught sight of him, "He's right here, nana. Still want to talk to him?" Greg waved him in with one hand as he continued speaking, "Jeg vil...du også."

"She wants to talk to me?" Nick asked, feeling very confused as he stepped into the lab. He didn't even blink at the Norwegian flowing from Greg. He had heard it a couple of times in the past few weeks, although usually by way of swear words and mumbles when he was concentrating hard on something.

Greg nodded and held out the phone, "All I ask is that you don't laugh at her."

Nick quirked an eyebrow at this odd advice and accepted the phone, "Hello?"

//Hello Nick. How are you?//

Nick smiled, "I'm doing all right. How about you?"

//Fine, fine.// Nick could hear the smile in her voice//Listen close, child. The cow you see belongs to farm down the road. Take care not to hit it.//

"Don't...hit the cow. Okay..." Nick mused, managing to keep his voice serious. She sounded so...certain...about what she was saying that even though Greg had warned him not to laugh, he wouldn't have been able to anyway.

//Be a dear and return to farm. Owner very worried. I'll talk later. Goodbye.// With that, Krista hung up.

Nick set the phone on its hook and turned to Greg, "What was that about?"

Greg didn't bother to look up as he answered, "Nana's a psychic." he shrugged, "Told me she had a vision about you but didn't tell me what it was. Care to divulge?"

"What you heard is pretty much it. Don't hit the cow and she asked me to return it to its owner." Nick paused, "Greg, psychics are..."

Greg shook his head and interrupted, "Don't." He looked up at Nick with stern eyes, "She's honest."

Nick was still doubtful but didn't say much beyond, "Sure, okay." With that, he tugged on Greg's hair and walked out to start his break.

Four hours later, he was on his way back to the lab from the Newman's' residence, having taken a quick trip out there to go around the edge of the pool again. After his talk with Warrick earlier that morning in the lab, he wanted to double check that they hadn't missed anything.

He turned off the highway to avoid an accident that was about a mile ahead of him, not paying much attention to the direction he was heading. So it was a huge surprise to him when a large cow stepped out onto the road. He slammed on the breaks to avoid hitting the animal, Krista Hojem's voice echoing in his head like some kind of mantra.

"You've got to be kidding me." He threw the truck into park and climbed out. He walked over to the animal and saw that it had a rope dangling from around its neck that was frayed at the bottom. Looking around, he caught sight of a fence lining the road. Nick grabbed the rope and led the animal to the fence, tying it up for the moment.

He went back to the truck and got in. He put it back into drive and went down the road about half a mile before he came upon a gravel road with a weathered sign dangling next to it. He turned onto it and drove up to a farmhouse that was just as weathered as the sign by the entrance.

An older gentleman who was clad in a t-shirt, jeans and work boots, stepped out onto the front porch as Nick got out of the truck, "Excuse me sir, but I just ran across a cow about a mile that way. It belong to you?"

The man nodded, "Yeah, she's mine. Her rope broke and she slipped out when my back was turned. Was just about to go looking for her. Glad you found her though. Which way was she headed?"

"She was headed west along your property fence before she cut me off. I tied her up about a half a mile down."

The cow's owner held out his hand, which Nick shook, "Thanks. Hate to think of what would have happened it she had kept goin' or nobody else stopped."

"It's no problem, sir. Glad I could help." Nick went back to the truck and got in to start on his way back to the lab.

After arriving back and taking a few minutes to talk to Warrick, Nick decided to call it a day and made his way to the DNA lab to see Greg and to tell him what had happened.

"Greg? This may sound like a stupid question but..." Nick started as he walked into the lab, his eyes glued to the odd scene before him.

Greg looked up at him and glared, "Then don't ask." He sighed and looked down at his foot, which was resting on a chair that he had swiped from the break room, "Do you have any idea how much this sucks? It itch's like a bitch and the cream doesn't help that beyond the application."

Nick sat down on the chair and lifted Greg's foot to get a better look at it, "This is..."

"Gross? Disgusting? Absolutely horrible? All of the above?" Greg scowled and grabbed the Hydrocortisone tube off the counter, "While you're down there put this on it."

"I'm not going to catch anything am I?" Nick asked, even as he took the tube from Greg.

Greg scoffed and went back to his microscope, "Grissom thoughtfully infected me with a mildew rash. The mildew has been scrubbed off so no, I don't think you'll catch anything." He whimpered then as Nick applied the cream, happy for the few minutes of itch-free time he was going to get, "Now, if only that would last."

Nick gave Greg's calf a pat before resting his foot back on the chair and standing up, "Did you get the week of the fourth off?"

Greg glanced at Nick, "Yeah, even though I had to fight Cindy for it. That woman has claws, Nick."

Nick thought about the weekend DNA tech with a laugh. She was even shorter then Greg's mother and an absolute sweetheart. She was also a shy little red-head, but apparently wasn't afraid of showing her true colors off when forced to work more then she had too. That was probably because she had three kids all over the age of fifteen.

"Hopefully the marks won't last. You've been working a lot of singles for her lately, though, so I kinda think you deserve the time off." Nick replied.

"Yeah. Was there something you actually needed? Or are you here to bother me?" Greg asked as he removed the slide from the microscope and marked something down on a folder.

"Actually, I wanted to apologize."

Greg sighed and turned his full attention onto Nick, "Apologize? For what?"

Nick flushed slightly, "For not believing you about Krista. She was right."

"You...saw a cow?" Greg asked, "Where were you?" He turned back to the microscope and began straightening up his mess.

"Coming back from the scene. I detoured because of an accident on the highway."

Greg closed the folder and turned back to Nick, "So you really believe her, huh?"

"Yeah, well, the evidence is a bit hard to refute." Nick cocked his head, "You just about done?"

"Yup. I'm going to go home, give Elijah a kiss and have Rayne bring him to daycare today. Then, I think I'm going to soak in the tub for an hour." Because he was still watching Nick, he caught the slight blush that rose up along Nick's neck. He knew what was causing it and couldn't help goading the man just a bit, "Nick? You okay? You're looking a bit flushed there."

"I'm fine." Nick cleared his throat and leaned against the table, "Looking for some company?"

-----

Elijah walked into the library, a sullen expression gracing his freckled face, "daddy whewe nicky?"

Greg looked up from his book, surprised that Elijah was awake. He had only been put down for his nap forty-five minutes ago, "Nick's at home sproglet."

"why he not hewe?" Elijah asked as he climbed up onto the well loved and very comfortable window seat that Greg was lounging on.

"He can't be here all the time, Elijah." Greg said, putting his book to the side and pulling his son onto his lap. Elijah just stared at him and he sighed, "Really, babe, he has to go home sometime."

Elijah shook his head vehemently, "nicky no go home. dun't 'ike goin'."

Greg stared at him, a bit confused, "What do you mean he doesn't like going home?"

"bad man. nicky no 'ike."

Greg's eyes widened as he realized just what Elijah was talking about, "He told you this?"

Elijah shrugged and wrapped his arms around Greg's neck, "want nicky hewe. him feel safe 'gain." he whispered as he drifted back off to sleep.

"Oh, he'll feel safe again. After I kick his butt." Greg stood up and limped up the stairs to deposit Elijah on his bed before carefully making his way to his room. It had been two freaking day's since he had been Grissom's guinea pig and his foot was still red and irritated, although thankfully the itching had subsided. He contemplated putting some more cream on it but his anger was taking precedent at the moment.

He grabbed his cell phone off the dresser and punched in Nick's speed dial. It rang twice before Nick picked up, voice hoarse from sleep and yet he sounded amazingly awake at the same time//'Lo?//

"Cut the crap, Stokes. I know you're awake."

//Greg?// Nick asked, voice much clearer then had been a few seconds ago and Greg mentally congratulated himself on calling Nick's little scheme so early.

"Yeah. You have half an hour to pack some clothes and get your ass over here. Capiche?"

//Greg what...//

Greg snapped his phone shut, hanging up on Nick. He was so upset at both himself and at Nick that rational thought was just about to fly out of the proverbial window. The only thing allowing him to keep rein of it was thoughts of the three-year-old napping peacefully down the hall.

How the hell could Nick not have told him that he wasn't comfortable going home? And how the hell could he have not picked up on it? Here he was, spending nearly night and day with the man, watching him fall asleep on one of the couch's in the family room or the couch's in the media room at the drop of a hat, not thinking anything of it because CSI's don't have easy jobs, right? He never really paid close attention to the black shadows growing under the brown eye's or the shoulders that were starting to droop as weariness and lack of sleep pressed down on him. And he claimed to love the man! Even if it was only in his own head at the moment.

Greg snorted to himself and left his room. He practically hopped down the stairs and made his way to the music room to watch for Nick.

Now that he thought back, he could clearly see the signs that had been so glaringly obvious that Nick was not comfortable in his own home. Coming over to his place after work, hesitating to leave when he felt he had too. Greg had not once told Nick to leave and had in fact asked him to stay plenty of times. It was something Nick didn't take him up on often, claiming that they both needed some sort of space to keep from feeling over-crowded with each other.

Of course, at the time Greg had agreed, even if it had been some what reluctantly. It was his own stupid fault for not telling Nick how deep his feelings already ran and that he really wanted to feel over-crowded by him. Oh but now...now he was going to push and push hard.

Greg saw the black Tahoe turning onto the drive and he glanced at the clock in the living room. Only twenty minutes had passed. Nick must have picked up on how angry he was. He limped his way to the front door, opened it and stood there with his arms crossed as he watched Nick park in the porte cochere.

When Nick came into view a few seconds later, Greg had expected him to look angry at the way Greg was acting but instead only confusion was visible on his face. Greg stepped to the side as Nick came up the steps to the porch but didn't say anything. Apparently, Nick could read something on his face, because he just walked right past him and went straight for the family room with Greg following after he shut the door.

They just stood there staring at one another in front of the fireplace. After a few moments, Nick couldn't take the silence anymore, "What's going on?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Greg countered, crossing his arms again. He was still angry, but a bit of hurt was slowly climbing its way in. As much as he wanted to, he found that he couldn't bring himself to look away from Nick and he knew the man standing across from him could see both of the emotions he was feeling at the moment.

If anything, Nick's look of confusion only seemed to deepen, "Tell you what?"

"That you don't like going home, for starters. Damn it Nick, I had to find out from Elijah when it was something you should have told me." Greg replied, his voice hitching from the hurt and the need to keep his voice down below screaming level.

"Jesus. Is that what this is about? I'm fine Greg." Nick said, though he couldn't quite meet Greg's eyes.

"You are not fine. When was the last time you got a decent amount of sleep? Because there is no way those naps you take here can hold you for this long."

"What the hell should I have said? Besides, it's not like you noticed." Nick's normally soft Texas drawl was becoming a lot more pronounced and Greg realized that it was because he was starting to get angry as well.

Nick's words caused Greg to scowl, "Oh believe me, I'm kicking myself for that now but if you had just said something..."

"Then you would have offered me a place to stay. I get that! Don't you think I haven't thought about saying something? But Christ Greg, we've only been together for near two months. It's too early to..."

Greg flung a pillow at Nick, the softest thing he could grab within reaching distance, not particularly caring at the moment when it struck Nick on the side of the head, "I love you, you dip shit, so don't you dare tell me that it's too damned early."

Both men froze then at Greg's heat of the moment declaration and stared at each other once more in a near mirror of their positions from the start of the fight. The only difference being that Greg was covering his own mouth and both men's eyes were wide.

Greg pulled his hand away slowly, "I..."

"You..." Both of them spoke at the same time and that seemed to break the tension that had been building up again. Nick cleared his throat, "You love me?"

Greg nodded a bit reluctantly, "Yeah."

Nick seemed to deflate like a balloon and he dropped down onto the couch behind him, "Wow."

"Yeah." Greg said again and chuckled, even though it sounded a bit hysterical.

"Well," Nick looked up at Greg, "I can see why you'd be upset now. This must have looked like I didn't trust you or something."

Greg looked away, not wanting to answer, but his action spoke louder than words.

"Greg." Nick's voice was coaxing him to look at him and after gathering the courage to do so, turned to face him again, "You just spent the last few weeks running ragged about Elijah. I wasn't about to add my own problems into that mix."

Greg conceded that point and dropped onto the chair behind him. Elijah had come down with the chicken pox shortly after they had had their barbecue. It had been a nasty case of it, with a high fever as well as swelling in his throat. There was still something about this whole situation, however, that was bothering him, "Nick, it was the middle of April when that happened to you, not the middle of May. What about that whole month beforehand?"

Nick sighed and ran his hand through his hair, "I thought about it. Lot's of times, actually, but something always seemed to come up just as I got the courage to do so and then suddenly, Elijah came down with the chicken pox and what I was going through went on the back burner."

Greg stood up and went over to Nick. He pulled the mans arms down and sat down, straddling Nick's lap. He rested his elbows on Nick's shoulders, threaded his fingers through the short, dark strands of hair and then just sat there, staring into Nick's eyes for a moment, reveling in the feeling that he was able to do this and no one else could.

"Move in with me." His voice was low and had a husky quality to it. He could barely hear himself say it but it had been audible.

Nick's eyes widened and his fingers gripped the back of Greg's t-shirt where he had rested his hands when the lab-rat had sat down, "What?" He whispered, not much louder then Greg's own question had been.

Greg tightened his fingers slightly and tipped Nick's head back a bit so they were looking at each other straight on, "You heard me Stokes. Move. In. With. Me." He punctuated each word with a slight tug to the hair he was gripping, "We don't have to share a room or anything, just..."

He was silenced as Nick surged up and kissed him. The kiss was heady, wet, and completely unlike any that they had shared prior to this afternoon. Greg was instantly addicted to it and he dropped his hands to grab at Nick's shoulders while keeping his arms around Nick's neck. He shivered as Nick's arms tightened around him, one hand sliding up to his shoulder, the other down to the side of his stomach. Nick's positioning had pulled Greg in tight and left them flushed together from the chest down to their groins.

When they pulled apart to breath, their locked positions barely allowed them an inch of air between their swollen mouths, "Was that a yes?" Greg asked between gasps.

"God yes." Nick replied, before leaning up to kiss him again. Neither noticed the small boy peaking through the archway or his happy smile as he turned around and went back upstairs.

-----

Greg pushed open the doors to the one bedroom in the house that wasn't used that often. Granted, his parents did use it when they visited, but he'd been thinking about building a guest house out on some of the unused yard anyway, "Here we go. It's not decorated much or anything, because it's always been a guest room but..."

Nick pressed his fingers to Greg's mouth and stepped around him into the bedroom, "There's a fireplace in here. That's cool. I also like the round nook over there." Nick pointed to the area he was talking about, "Look at the light coming in from all those windows." He eyed it for a moment before turning to look at the queen sized bed sitting against the wall, which also held the doorway leading to the small en-suite bathroom and walk-in closet, "Can we move the bed out of here?"

Greg raised both of his eyebrows, "Why? You're gunna need something to sleep on, aren't you?"

"G, while I agreed that I'd need a space of my own to retreat to when I needed it, I was still planning on sharing a bed with you. Unless you don't want me to." Nick crossed his arms and looked at Greg.

Greg could see the playful glint in the dark brown eyes and decided to play along, "I dunno Stokes. I don't just share my bed with anyone you know."

Nick dropped his arms and moved into Greg's personal space, "Really? So what can I do to convince you to let me in it?" he asked. He reached up and began a light massage to Greg's shoulders.

Greg groaned, "That's one way..."

Nick ran his hands up to frame the back of Greg's neck, preparing to kiss him. Just as he was leaning forward to do so, a pounding of small feet and a small body slamming into their legs kept him from his goal.

"daddy, nicky...unca wicks ou'side." Elijah said, trying to climb up Nick's jeans.

Nick rested his forehead against Greg's for a moment as they both chuckled. He kissed Greg's nose and pulled away, looking down at the grinning face gazing back up at them. He tapped Elijah's button nose with his finger before stepping far enough away to pick the boy up, "Warrick's outside huh? Cool. He can help me move the bed and dresser down to the storage garage."

Greg rolled his eyes and started out of the room to let their friend in, "Oh like I couldn't have."

"I never said that G." Nick said, following him.

"No, but you implied it. I'm strong. I've got muscles." Greg flexed his arm as they started down the stairs and then frowned when only a small bump of muscle appeared, "Well, I'm stronger than I look."

"I'm sure you are." Nick kissed Greg's cheek before stepping around him to open the door, "Hey man."

Warrick grinned, "Yo. Heard you were lookin' for a little help." He saw Greg over Nick's shoulder and his grin widened. Greg's eyes were narrowing and honed in on the back of Nick's head.

Nick leaned forward, "He's glaring at me, isn't he?" He whispered, a grin on his own face.

"Oh yeah. Death glare level three, man. You have got to stop winding him up." Warrick held out his arms to Elijah, "Come here, little man, give me some lovin'."

Elijah laughed and scrambled out of Nick's arms, who winced as a sneaker scrapped along his inner arm. Elijah wrapped his arms tight around Warrick's neck and squeezed as hard as he could before pulling away and scanning the front yard over the black man's shoulder, "lindy?" he asked, hoping his new friend had come along as well.

"Lindsey's at her grandmas for the day."

Elijah slumped down in Warrick's arms and crossed his own over his chest, "awww."

At Nick and Greg's curious looks at that bit of information, Warrick stepped into the house fully and shut the door, "Cath had to work a double. If I had known you two were going to be carting Eli around during all of this, I would have brought Lindsey. They could have kept each other company."

"Still not a bad idea if you want to swing around and pick her up during one of the trips between. Rayne and Mark are with their daughter otherwise he'd be with them." Nick smiled at Elijah and ran a hand through the red hair as the three-year-old stuck out his tongue, "We've got a bed and dresser to move first though."

This reminded Greg that he was supposed to be angry at Nick and he scowled, "I'll go strip the bed. Excuse me."

"Remember when I said to stop winding him up?" Warrick asked, setting a squirming Elijah down on the ground, "Ignore that. He's funny when he's in a snit."

Nick snorted, "Why do you think I do it?" He said as they both started up the stairs after the Sander's men.

-----

"Man, between my furniture and the stuff from that room, this place is going to be packed tight." Nick said, as he looked around the garage that was used as a storage room. He wiped the sweat off of his face and used his hip to press the wrapped mattress closer to the wall.

"I can't believe Greggo has a poker table in here." Warrick said, running his hands along the beige colored felt, "This thing is...is that a foosball table?"

Nick looked up from where he was stacking boxes. He followed Warrick's adoring gaze and grinned, "Yeah. That used to be out on the patio when Greg was younger but him and Lauren, Rayne's daughter, lost the balls so it was moved in here."

Warrick shook his head in amazement and went back to the reason they were in the garage, "Well, I don't think we can get much more free space in here right now. Luckily, we have the rafters to use as storage also."

Nick stood up and went to the door, "Yeah. There's also an empty storage room at the top of those stairs that we can use too."

Greg looked up as they walked into the kitchen, "You going to find the room you need?" He asked, closing the magazine he had been looking at.

"Yeah, should have no problem. Just came to get something to drink before we start moving boxes upstairs." Nick grabbed a pitcher of iced tea out of the fridge, "Where are the kids?"

Greg pointed at the window, "Trying to dig their way to china."

Both Warrick and Nick's eyebrows rose in curiosity and they walked around the island to look out the window over the sink. Sure enough, both kids were covered in dirt and standing ankle deep in a wide hole, "Hoo-boy, G, Mark is going to kill you." Nick said. He pulled down three glasses as he watched Lindsey and Elijah dig away with little hand trowels Greg had given them.

Greg snorted and accepted the glass Nick handed him after it was filled with the tea, "I told them to dig there because Mark was planning on putting a tree in that spot sometime this summer anyway. It gives him a head start on tilling the dirt." Greg lift his glass to take a drink but paused when the rim touched his lip, "How did I get stuck as babysitter, anyway?"

"Your kid, Greggo. But look at it this way," Warrick set his glass by the sink and clapped Greg on the shoulder as he passed by, headed towards the front of the house, "You get out of the sweaty work of hauling."

"Sure, sure, but I get the dirty work of two kids who are going to need baths before dinnerand said dinner needs to be cooked." Greg replied. It had come out more as a mumble and so neither man leaving the kitchen heard him. He sighed and stood with a stretch, figuring now would be as good a time as any to figure out what to make for dinner.

He headed out the back door and just jumped the bench instead of walking the length of the walk-way to get to the kids, "How's it going?"

Both kids stopped their digging and looked up with grins, "Good! We're hitting darker dirt." Lindsey said, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand.

Greg winced at the dark smudge that was left behind. He was suddenly very grateful that Catherine's mom had put Lindsey's hair back into a ponytail sometime prior to Warrick picking her up. The less dirt in Lindsey's long, blond hair, the less work it meant for him.

"daddy look! I foun' dat." Elijah said, pushing the item towards Greg.

Greg picked it up and grinned, "You found a silver dollar, sproglet. Cool." He ran his thumb over the coin to wipe away the dirt and then froze in shock, "Oh my God." He looked at the kids who were staring up at him, confused, "You two keep playing. I have to go check something, okay?"

Both kids nodded and shrugged at the same time as they turned their attention back to the hole, Lindsey already pointing out where Elijah should dig next.

Greg ran back to the house, jumping the bench and barreling through the doors. He detoured through the office, which was right next the family room and slid into the library. Looking over the shelves that bordered the wall next to the staircase, he found what he was looking for and ran back to the kitchen.

He turned on the water and very carefully washed the dirt and grime accumulated on the silver dollar, revealing the picture and dates inscribed on the coin. It was old, minted in eighteen seventy-three, and the pictures were of an eagle and lady liberty sitting. Flipping through the book he had dropped on the island, his mouth dropped open.

Elijah had found an eighteen seventy-three trade dollar. It was a coin that could range in price anywhere from a hundred dollars to over a thousand. It wasn't an extremely rare coin, as close to four hundred thousand had been minted for circulation, but it was still old and hard to find.

Greg twirled the coin in his fingers. Brief scenarios flitted through his mind as he wondered how it came to be in his back yard, but none stuck. Coins traveled and could show up in the weirdest of spots, so it wasn't something he needed to dwell on. What he needed to figure out was what to do with the coin. He could have it appraised but then there was a good chance that if it was worth money, he would end up having to deal with a pushy coin collector trying to get their grubby paws on it.

His best bet and the safest scenario would be to set it aside with his own collection for Elijah when he got older. If his son decided he didn't want to have a coin collection, Elijah could sell it off when he could spend the money received from the sale responsibly.

Going with that choice, he closed the book and grabbed the coin, slipping it into his pocket. He then went back outside to see what the kids wanted for dinner...again.

TBC...

Norwegian in this chapter translates to: ( Jeg vil...du også // I will...me too. ) Or so the translating site informed me. If it's wrong, blame it not me.

Chapter 6