Fic: When All is Said and Done - Chapter 24
January
Nick popped open the stereo in the family room and let out a groan. All ten of the CD slots were filled with Greg's CD's. He wasn't surprised, but he'd have to put them all away unless he wanted his ear drums blown out when they hit the rotation. He started the tedious task of returning the CD's to their cases, glad for his parents Christmas gift to Greg of the CD dividers. It made hunting down the cases much more easy.
When he pulled out the case for the second to last CD in the player and opened it, he was surprised to find a picture of a very tiny baby wrapped up in a piglet outfit with it's knees drawn up to it's chest and it's mitten covered hands in fists by it's face. He slipped the picture from the case cover and looked at the back. Elijah Henrik, age two months was scrawled on the back in Greg's handwriting. The picture must have been taken just after Greg had brought him home from the hospital.
Nick set the case down on top of the stereo and sat down on the couch behind him. He ran a finger along the edge of Elijah's face with a soft smile. What he wouldn't give to have known Greg and their amazing son from the beginning. To have been there for his first steps, his first words, all of his firsts. It was a bittersweet feeling, as he knew they had a lot more firsts to go yet with Elijah and now he would be a part of them.
"Mom took that the day I brought him home. She couldn't wait to dress him up in all of the little outfits she had bought for him. At the time, though, I don't think she quite grasped how small he was. That pajama set was the only one that fit him for the following three months." Greg said, sliding his arm along Nick's shoulders as he perched on the edge of the couch.
"When did his freckles show up?"
"Right around the time he started to fit into more clothes and once they started popping up they didn't really stop. His aren't as bad as Blythe's though. The concentration of them on her nose was enough to make her look like she had a permanent tan there." Greg sighed.
Nick brought the picture closer to his face, "You know, with the pale eyelashes, it's really noticeable that he has your eyes."
Greg nodded and turned his attention from his favorite baby photo of Elijah to Nick. The expression on the Texans face was wistful looking, "You okay?"
"Yeah, just wish that I had known you and him before." Nick replied.
Before Greg had a chance to say something, the land line rang. He stood up and went into the kitchen. A glance at the caller ID showed it to be Malcolm's law firm number in Vegas, "Sanders residence."
/May I please speak with Greg Sanders?/
"Speaking."
/Mr. Sanders, this is Richard Pyre from Petersen Fox and Eads LLC./
Greg rolled his eyes. He had spoken to the attorney Malcolm had found for them about three times now since the first of the year, and each time the man called, he never forgot to inform them of which firm he worked for, "What can I do for you Mr. Pyre?"
/I have arrived at our Las Vegas branch. About twenty minutes before phoning you, I received a call from the Stanfield lawyer. A supervised visit has been set up./
"What? Why?"
/I believe it wasn't their choice, but on order of the judge presiding over the case. He would like to see Blythe Stanfield's interactions with your son./
Greg frowned. He really wasn't liking the sound of all this, "When?"
The shuffling of papers was audible through the phone/Next week, on Monday. The judge took into account yours and Mr. Stokes hours and scheduled it for four o'clock that afternoon. It will be at the courthouse on Venture Ave./
Greg wrote the information down on the pad of paper hanging next to the phone, "All right. Anything else?"
/Not that I can think of./ Richard paused/I wouldn't worry. If the judge is ordering a supervised visit, that means he's taking in Ms. Stanfield's past actions. This could actually be a very good thing./
"I hope you're right, Mr. Pyre." Greg said, looking out the kitchen window. How was he going to make it through that without breaking down completely?
~~
Greg walked into the diner and hastily shut the door behind him to block out the cold air. He shivered a bit as he looked around. Bobby was sitting at a window booth, scanning over the menu in front of him while chatting with Jenna. The six-year-old, who had her fathers wavy, sandy brown hair, was dressed in lace and pigtails. He wondered if her 'mother' got a hold of her that morning as neither Bobby nor Randy would consciously help their daughter dress like that.
He made his way to the booth and slid in across from the two Dawson's, "Couldn't wait for me, could you." He stated, amused.
Bobby looked up at him and gave him a lopsided grin, "Naw, me and Jen were getting hungry. Besides, you're late."
"Only by ten minutes. There was an accident on the highway. Traffic was backed up big time." He looked up as the waitress walked to their table with a menu for him, "I'll have a mountain dew and the grilled cheeseburger." He always got the same thing here. It was often that he wondered why they still bothered to bring him a menu.
"Same for us." Bobby said, handing the waitress his and Jenna's menus. They had their drinks already.
Greg shuffled out of his coat as he eyed Jenna, who was playing with the diners table trivia game, "Why you toting short stuff around?" He asked, sticking his tongue out at the aforementioned girl when she raised her head to glare at him. The girl didn't speak unless it was absolutely necessary, though she wasn't in any way shy. She was also amazingly easy to read because of her expressive face.
"Randy had a parent teacher conference so she got stuck with dad." Bobby took a sip of his soda as he looked at Greg, "How you holdin' up?"
"Could be worse. I think I'm still in shock about the whole thing and worrying about Nick isn't helping. Well, that's taking my mind off of Blythe and her mechanisms." Greg said, not noticing that he had started to shred a napkin into little pieces.
Jenna watched his hands for a moment before setting down the trivia box and squirming under the table. She popped up on Greg's side and wrapped her arms around his arm and slid a hand underneath his, effectively putting a halt to his shredding. He smiled and bent over to kiss the top of her head, "Thanks sweetie."
Bobby was silent as his daughter played comforter but spoke up after a moment, "I thought you and Stokes were tight though."
Greg shrugged, "Been acting weird lately." He shifted his arm and dropped it down around Jenna's shoulders as he leaned back against the pale colored vinyl of the bench, "I'm not sure whats going on. Jacqui said I should just talk to him, but to be honest, I'm afraid of what I might find out."
Before Bobby had a chance to reply, the waitress came back with Greg's soda and the three baskets containing their food. Apparently, from the speed of receiving their food, the chef had anticipated their orders, even if the wait staff had not, "Here you go, guys." She placed the soda and two of the baskets down in front of the two men. She went to place Jenna's but paused when she saw that the six-year-old girl had switched sides on her. She shook her head and placed the basket in front of Jenna, "Anything else?"
Both Greg and Bobby looked at Jenna, who shook her head as she started in on her fries, "No, we're good, thanks." Greg said, going for his soda.
They ate in silence for a few moments before Bobby spoke up, bringing the previous topic back to hand, "You know, Greg, Valentines day is in a few weeks..."
Greg looked up at his friend, the burger in his hands pausing halfway to his mouth, "Has he said anything to you?"
"No, but I'm just saying. Maybe that's the reason he's been all quiet and stuff."
"We don't do hearts and flowers man, which is pretty much all Valentines is." Greg dropped his sandwich back into the basket, appetite gone, "I thought about that though. Elijah already picked out a Valentines gift for him and Nick and I both got Elijah his candy and card." he added, turning to look out the window over Jenna's head.
Bobby's eyebrow rose, "Have you gotten anything for Nick?"
Greg didn't answer right away. Something had caught his eye outside. A man wearing long blond hair in a ponytail and dressed in a thermal jacket was standing in front of a coffee shop, looking to be lost in thought, seemed vaguely familiar to the lab-tech. It took him a few moments to put together why and he straightened up in his seat when realization struck, "Thad." he hissed, clenching his hands on the table.
"You got Nick a...Thad? What?"
Greg shook his head and pointed out the window, "That guy across the street, in the blue jacket and ponytail. That's Nick's ex!"
Bobby leaned closer the window, "How about that. The way he's all bundled up, doesn't seem to be a native to Vegas."
"He's not. He's from Dallas. What the hell is he doing here?"
~~
The days following his 'lunch' with Bobby, and the sighting of the dreaded 'ex,' were some of the darkest Greg had ever experienced, especially with the mounting tension about the supervised visit. He and Nick had had several fights about whether to tell Elijah about was going on. Greg was vehemently against it and Nick felt that Elijah had a right to know who Blythe was before he was thrust into meeting her. Nick just couldn't grasp the fact that he was afraid that Elijah would form a bond with his mother and if that happened, they would lose their son.
"Greggo, come on, I know the little man is only three but he's a smart kid. If his mom is half as bad as you say, he'll figure it out."
"What if he doesn't Nick? What if he decides that he wants a rich mom he'll actually see, instead of two dads who work nights and that he sees for two hours a day tops?" In his worry, he exaggerated the actual time spent with Elijah, something Nick picked up on but didn't comment about since it wasn't the main issue.
"Babe, that isn't going to happen. You're the only parent he's known his whole life. You're his world just as much as he's yours and you both are mine. Everything is going to be fine, you'll see."
In the end, they had finally agreed to disagree so that Eli wouldn't hear them arguing about him. Now, five long days after the phone call from their attorney, Greg found himself fidgeting nervously in the passenger seat of the Tahoe. Nick usually drove when they went anywhere as a family, a fact he was grateful for now, as he was feeling too wound up to be considered a safe driver.
"whewe we go, daddy?" Elijah asked from his spot in the backseat, where he had Stitch clasped tightly in his mitten covered hands. Mittens were worn because, despite the lack of snow, it was still cold. Too cold for little hands to be free of any type of cover.
"Ah," Greg hesitated, "It's a surprise." Nick glared at him as he backed out of the garage, but Greg let out a soft smile despite that as Elijah let out a cheer.
Once they were safely on the way, Nick reached over and clasped his distraught lover's hand. When they came to a red light, he leaned over and looked him in the eye while whispering, "If you don't tell him, I will."
"No, I'll do it." the young lab-rat whispered in return and, choking back tears, he turned in his seat to face his...their son.
"Hey sproglet, you know how we talked about how every family is different? Like Maddox, Trixie and Dakota have a mommy and a daddy, and Lindsey just has a mommy?"
"and unca wick," Eli interjected, causing both men to laugh.
"Yeah, little man and Uncle 'Rick," Nick answered with a grin.
"Then there's kids like Jenna that have two dads. And sometimes there are really special little boys that go by the name Elijah that have two dads and a mom."
"hey, dat my name! elizah henwik sandews," exclaimed the diminutive red-head. "but i no hab mommy. i has two daddies. daddy and poppy!"
"Well, Eli, yes you do have two daddies, but you also have a mommy. She had to go far away when you were a baby, but now she's here and she wants to see you. That's where we're going right now actually. A place where you can see each other. Maybe you can show her the new song you learned at daycare this week." Greg felt his words begin to tumble out of control as his nervous habit of babbling kicked into high gear. He was about to say more when Elijah began crying.
"What's wrong little man?" Nick asked as he swung the truck into a parking place at the courthouse. Both he and Greg had felt no need to argue with the place chosen by the judge, especially because of Eli and his extreme fear of strangers. This way it would only expose him to his mother and not a whole lot of strangers who happened to be around whatever public place they might have gone to.
"no want mommy! i has daddy and poppy, no need mommy!"
"Eli...come on little man, let's just go inside and meet your mom. She did come a long way just to see you, the least we can do is say hello." Nick paused and turned in his seat, taking in the stubborn jaw, the crossed arms, and the tear stained cheeks, "I'll make you a deal. Give her thirty minutes and then if you're still afraid, we'll go, okay?"
The toddler eyed him suspiciously. "you pwomise, poppy? you make watch beep an' i go home?" Nick had taken to setting the timer on his watch to help Elijah learn to deal with time limits as well as to help with his counting.
Greg finally found his voice again and spoke up. "We promise, sproglet. We'll leave after thirty minutes if you want to, but at least give her a chance."
"okay daddy," the frightened little boy answered as he reached out to be taken into Nick's arms after releasing himself from his car seat, a new trick that had resulted in a time out the week before, as the truck had been moving when he first figured it out. That was the time out that prompted Nick to start using his watch with the toddler.
The little family entered the courthouse, Elijah held tightly in Nick's right arm and Greg in his left. Nick was glad, for once, of the time he'd spent in the courthouse during his years as a CSI. He didn't think he could have held it together if they'd had to search for the proper office. As it was, he was having difficulty negotiating the halls with the still sniffling toddler clutched in one arm and dragging his increasingly agitated lover along with the other.
"I can't do this Nick." Greg moaned, his voice cracking as they turned down the final hall that would lead them to their destination. Upon hearing this, Nick took a small detour and steered the distraught man into a nearby restroom.
Setting Elijah down on the counter, Nick pulled Greg into his arms and held him tightly, kissing away the tears that were now coursing down his cheeks in earnest. "Babe, listen to me. It's going to be fine. I talked to my dad yesterday. He said this is just a formality that we have to submit to and the less of a big deal we make about it, the easier it will all be especially given Blythe's history. Now, you have to be calm for Eli. You know that if you're upset, he'll go ballistic."
Taking a steadying breath before moving slowly out of Nick's embrace, Greg set his jaw and prepared to see a woman he hadn't seen in more than three years. He splashed some water on his face, checked Elijah's pull up, a precaution taken in light of being thrust into an unknown situation, and leaned down to pick up the boy.
"want poppy cawwy me. please daddy?"
Greg smiled down at his son, "He makes you feel safe, doesn't he Eli? I know exactly what you mean. He makes me feel safe too."
The child nodded and pressed his fist to his mouth, the closest he could get to thumb sucking with his mittens on, as he was hoisted up into the Texans loving arms. They left the bathroom and walked the rest of the way down the hall. Their attorney was already there, seated on the pew-like benches that lined the halls of the courthouse.
Richard Pyre rose to his feet when the young family was within his sights. It was their first time seeing the lawyer in person and his appearance was a bit of a shock. He was only five foot eight at the most with a large receding hairline and thick glasses hiding his eyes. He stood with a straight back however and shook both of their hands firmly while he introduced himself...and the firm he worked for...again.
"We have a bit of a problem." Richard said after the formalities were taken care of, while motioning for Nick and Greg to sit.
Both men declined and Greg perked up at this, "What kind of problem? She didn't show up?"
Richard shook his head, "No, she has arrived...along with her parents."
"She...brought her parents?" Nick asked, his voice giving away his confusion.
"Or they brought her." Richard took his own offering and dropped back down onto the bench, "My first glimpse of them was brief, but Blythe Stanfield seemed rather aloof. Almost as if she wanted to be someplace else."
Greg snorted, "Maybe she doesn't like courthouses."
Richard nodded, "That could very well be the case." He stood back up with a sigh after checking his watch, "We might as well go inside. We're not waiting on anybody and the observer will be watching from video feed." He walked to the door and looked over his shoulder at them while he reached for the doorknob, "Just keep it simple and relax. Don't give away that you're nervous or they'll bite onto that like sharks. Have you brought anything of Elijah's? Something that could strike a common interest or keep him occupied?"
Greg held up Elijah's plastic backpack, "His 'go' bag. We just leave it in the truck so whatever is in here is all we got."
"That's fine." Richard opened the door and stepped inside, leaving the two men and the toddler to follow him.
Greg's fingers dug into Nick's arm and Elijah's head went to Nick's neck as soon as he caught sight of the other participants in the room. There were four people standing by the window, the Stanfield's and their lawyer.
Greg recognized Blythe right away as she hadn't changed much in the past few years. Her curly, dark auburn hair was pulled back into a ponytail with her bangs sweeping across her forehead from one side and her makeup was flawless. She was wearing a dark gray turtleneck and a tan knee length skirt with knee high boots that matched the outfit.
Her parents were easy to pick out as well. Old, crusty and fake were the best adjectives that Greg could come up with as he looked them over. Emerson Stanfield was in a sports coat and matching slacks. One of his hands was thrust in his pocket with part of the coat pushed back behind his arm. Greg was amused by the fact that he was actually standing like that. He always figured it to be a pose from magazines to show off a pants fit around the waist. Stanfield's eyes had a distant look to them, almost as if he felt he didn't belong in the same room as the 'peons' around him.
His wife had the pinched and distasteful look of someone who was in the presence of a CSI after they had just worked a decomp. Her makeup was as flawless as her daughters, though her dyed blond hair was cut into a bob that hung around her shoulders with not a strand out of place most likely because of the overuse of hairspray. She was clad in a pink 'ski bunny' sweater and a skirt that matched her daughters. Her arms were crossed and her eyes had narrowed in on the hand Greg was gripping Nick's arm with.
Richard cleared his throat, "Mister and Mrs. Stanfield, Miss. Stanfield, Mister Sanders has arrived for your visit with Elijah."
"Emerson." All three Stanfield's said, eyes falling on the three-year-old who was steadily working his way onto Nick's back and out of sight.
Richard's face darkened slightly at that, "Until he is in your custody, meaning approved by the judge, his name is not to be changed because of one of your whims. His name is Elijah and he will be called as such."
Nick ushered Greg over to one of the couches and turned so Greg could pull Elijah off of his back. Elijah climbed right back into Nick's arms once they were sitting.
"Who are you?" Mrs. Stanfield asked, pointing at Nick.
"I'm Nick Stokes." He wrapped an arm around Greg's shoulders, smiling at the frown it brought to all three of the Stanfield's faces, "I'm Greg's partner."
"Stokes...Stokes..." Blythe murmured upon hearing Nick's accent, which she mistakenly thought of as Georgian, "Are you by any chance of the Valatosa Stokes?"
"No ma'am." Nick said looking over at her, "I'm from the Dallas Stokes. As in justice Bill Stokes and Texas state attorney Jillian Stokes."
Blythe didn't manage to keep the look of surprise off of her face from the implication of that as she turned to look at her parents. Mrs. Stanfield shook her head, "It matters little. May we see...Elijah, or do you plan to keep him hidden behind you for the duration of the visit?"
Elijah had again wormed his way around Nick and was peaking over his shoulder that the four people across the room, his hands, still encased in his mittens, gripping Nick's jacket.
"He's shy and it takes a while for him to warm up to new people." Greg said, not looking at them. He instead faced his son, "Come on sproglet, lets get you out of that coat. We may have settled on a short time limit, but thats still too long to be all bundled up."
"k." Elijah whispered, inching slowly towards his father.
"Has he had any schooling?"
Greg glanced at Stanfield before rolling his eyes. His voice was just as crusty sounding as he looked. He pulled Elijah's mittens off and stuffed them in his own pocket along with the small pompom adorned hat. He used his fingers to tame the wild fly aways of his auburn curls before helping Elijah out of his winter coat.
They had dressed him in a sweater and a pair of khaki's, figuring his usual wardrobe of jeans, a t-shirt and a zip up hoodie wouldn't go over particularly well. Elijah had not been amused by the clothes, claiming at first that the wool sweater was far too itchy to wear. Until Greg mentioned that 'aunt' Rayne had made it, which had Elijah agreeing to go with it.
"He's three, Mister Stanfield." Nick replied, his voice confused. He accepted Elijah back into his arms and Greg held up Stitch with an amused sigh. Elijah had stowed him away inside his jacket. He handed the clown to the toddler who snuggled it happily.
"Yes, we know. There is an excellent preparatory school in Virginia that we are considering for him. Of course, enrollment is a little difficult without prior education, but I'm sure something can be arranged." Stanfield said while pouring himself a cup of coffee from the pot in the corner of the room.
"I don't believe this." Nick said, "You don't send a three-year-old to a prep school!"
"Nick..." Greg shook his head and whispered, "Not the best time. Let him ramble."
Mrs. Stanfield was the first one to brave the gap separating the two groups. She stood in front of them and cocked her head to the side. It made her look like a chicken in Greg's mind, "He's a bit small but we were told he will probably grow out of that. Good coloring. Looks like his mother." She reached out to grab his arm only to have Elijah jerk away and start crying.
As she backed away at the noise, Greg only shrugged, "I told you he's shy." He pulled Elijah's backpack onto his lap and opened it. He pulled out the sippy cup of apple juice that he had stuffed in there before leaving the house and passed it over to Elijah. He was about to close up the bag when a book caught his eye. It was the one Nick had gotten for Elijah for his birthday, "Hey Nick? I thought this book freaked him out?" It was one of Shel Silverstein's poem books. He personally loved them, but the first one read to the toddler was the babysitter poem, which had sent Elijah running.
"I thought so too. I know I didn't put that in there."
Elijah pulled the cup from his mouth, "not bad. aunt sammy wead some."
"I see." Greg set the backpack to the side.
Mrs. Stanfield still stood in front of them and overheard their conversation with ease, "Still not speaking properly. Has he learned another language yet?"
Nick and Greg both stared at her with incredulous expressions on their faces, "Yes." They both answered simultaneously and then looked at each other, both shocked and amused.
Nick cleared his throat, "I've been teaching him Spanish."
"And he's been learning Norwegian since he could talk." Greg said, smiling for the first time since leaving the house, "I didn't know about the Spanish though. When did that start?"
Nick shrugged as he thought back, "Since just after I moved in. I was talking to my friend Juan and Elijah overheard."
"So, nothing of substance then." Mrs. Stanfield said, interrupting them, "We'll have to add French and Latin to the list dear." She said over her shoulder. She finally stepped away, "Blythe, come interact with your son. That is why we're here after all."
Blythe shrugged her shoulders and made to stand by her mother. She looked down at Elijah, expressionless, "Hello...Elijah, I am your mother."
Elijah stared up at her from around the edge of the sippy cup, his brown eyes still filled with tears. He didn't say anything, nor did he move. Nick poked him in his ticklish spot on the side of his torso and smiled when Elijah let out a giggle and turned to look up at his poppy, "Say hello, little man."
Elijah slowly looked away from Nick to Blythe, "'lo." He mumbled around the cups spout.
"What a lack of decorum. Something else to be fixed I'm afraid." Mrs. Stanfield said as she started back to stand by her husband.
Greg bit his lip, pissed at the implications of how he was raising his son. They were acting like Elijah was a broken toy. He was tempted to say something, but Nick's hand gravitated to his thigh and squeezed it in reassurance.
Blythe caught the movement, "How long have you been...partners?" She asked, her face twisting into a grimace of disgust.
"Since May." Greg replied, wondering where this was going.
"All the more reason for...Elijah to be turned over to our care. Children should not be raised around such abnormalities." Mrs. Stanfield said.
Before either men could respond, Nick's watch beeped, "Oh thank God." Greg said at the same time as Elijah's, "it beep. we go?"
He grabbed Elijah's jacket out from behind him, "Half an hours up." Greg continued as he packed up Elijah's backpack as well. He stood at the same time as Nick and looked at Blythe, "It was nice seeing you again," a loud not reverberated around his brain at the tail end of that sentence. He turned to Richard, "I'm afraid we have to go."
Richard nodded and closed the leather bound clipboard he had been writing in while the 'meeting' was taking place, "All right."
The two men walked out ahead of their lawyer, not bothering to say goodbye. Once the door was shut behind them, they made their way across the hall to one of the benches and stood Elijah on it to bundle him back up, "That was so pointless. There was no interaction going on at all. Just a bunch of stupid observations." Greg muttered, pulling the hat and mittens out of his pocket while Nick zipped up Elijah's coat.
"she mean daddy." Elijah said, looking around Greg's arm as the door opened and the Stanfield's filed out into the hall, "no like."
Blythe's shoulders stiffened as they walked by and both men wondered if she had heard the last bit of his statement. The glare she shot them over her shoulder indicated that it was a definite possibility.
TBC...
How many of you caught the name of the firm? Hehe, my friend thought it'd be funny and I couldn't think of anything else, so I went along with it. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it!