Fic: When All is Said and Done - Chapter 27
March
Nick watched from the couch as Greg paced up and down the family room, his cell dangling from his fingers. The scene was so reminiscent to one they had already played out in November that Nick had to stop himself from flashing back to that day when all they had to worry about was whether their parents would get along while in the same room. It was amazing how just one phone call could change all that.
Now, three months after the fateful call, Greg was preparing to call his parents and inform them of what was going on with Elijah. He had been putting it off since December, finding some excuse to pass on calling them. Hell, Nick's parents already knew and were, in fact, preparing to leave Texas to fly up at that very moment. As in, when Nick last talked to them, they were in the middle of packing.
Nick climbed to his feet and set himself in Greg's path, a flash of amusement crossing his face as an oblivious Greg walked into him, "G, just get it over with."
"She's going to freak out, Nick. Forgive me if I want to put this off as long as possible." Greg said, looking up at Nick. His eyes were wide as thought of all the torture his mother was about to put him through.
"Let's just get it over with." Nick repeated as he snatched the phone out of Greg's hands and punched in Jan and Dave's speed dial. When it started ringing, he held it up to Greg, who was steadily trying to back away from him.
Greg didn't have a chance to get far enough away when his mom picked up. He glared at Nick and took the phone, "Hi mom."
/Hello, sweetie. How are you doing?/
"Fine mom." Greg pulled away from Nick completely, "I know we haven't had a chance to talk lately. Thing's have been pretty hectic around here." Greg paused and listened to whatever his mom was saying, "I know that's no excuse...yes, mom."
Nick suppressed a grin as Greg's eyes narrowed even more at him. It had been weeks since Greg last spoke to Jan, and if he had to guess, he was sure that she didn't even know about their engagement, something Greg was sure to inform her of any minute as he tried to put off the inevitable.
Sure enough, "Hey, mom, I have some great news." Greg said, as if he had been reading Nick's mind,"...Nick asked me to marry..." Greg was cut off as Jan squealed through the phone loud enough for even Nick to hear from four feet away. His grin, which had grown out of the previous glare quickly, faded away as Jan started talking, "Mom, we realize that a male couple can't...Just..."
Greg covered the mouth piece of the phone and held it away from his mouth, "See what you did?"
Nick raised an eyebrow, "What I did? If you had just told her about Eli first, you wouldn't have to listen to whatever it is she's talking about now."
"Something about thinking and hopes...I don't know." He returned the phone to his mouth and said, "Mom, you done? Look, Nick and I still have things to work out in that area, but that's not..." Greg paused and took a deep breath, "That's not why I called."
Nick held his arms out and wrapped them around the lab rats back as Greg stepped into his embrace. He knew this was going to be bad. Jan scared even him at times and Greg had told many a story about her over protectiveness when it came to her two boys. He was in that fold now as well, and had been since the episode with...Crane, but sometimes her protectiveness knew no bounds when it came to her son and grandson.
"Mom, I need you, dad, papa and nana to come over to Vegas." Greg said, wrapping one of his arms around Nick's waist as he spoke, as if he were grounding himself.
/Why? Is something wrong?/
"You could say that. Since December, Blythe and her parents have been working on trying to get complete custody of Elijah." Greg's hand dug into Nick's shirt as they waited for Jan to respond.
It took nearly a full five minutes before she spoke again/And you are just now telling me?/
"Mom, I said things have been..."
/Hectic, I know. And yet, not hectic enough if Nick was able to propose. Dammit, Greg, your priorities are.../
"Just fine, mom." Greg said, gritting his teeth, "We've been doing everything in our power to keep Elijah. Nick asked me on the only break other than work that we had, so..." He took a deep breath, "Please, can you just come up for the hearing? You can ask questions and yell and all that stuff then."
/When?/
"Next week." Greg said with a gulp. He was never going to hear the end of this.
/We'll be there this weekend. Give my grandson a kiss for me./
Greg closed the phone when it beeped to tell them that Jan had hung up, "Oh, this is bad."
Nick shook his head and massaged Greg's back, "You should have told her right away, G, but yeah, next week is going to be interesting."
"She's going to gut me. Do you see now why I didn't tell her about Halloween?"
"Yeah, still think you should have, but I can see why you didn't." Nick tightened his arms briefly before stepping back, "Let's go pick up Elijah and take him out to Chuck E Cheese or Game Works for dinner."
Greg grinned in response to the idea. He loved it when they took Elijah to those restaurants as they didn't have age or weight restrictions on their various tunnel structures or ball pits, allowing him to go in and play with his son. Nick even joined in sometimes, much to Elijah's enjoyment. Greg had once even managed to snap a picture of his lover sliding headfirst into one of the ball pits.
They made it to Jack and Jill daycare by four o'clock, which was their normal pickup time. They both went inside, pausing to talk to Marge Holstein, one of the afternoon watchers.
"Hey Margie." Greg said, leaning against the counter, "How was he today?"
"A little angel as always, according to Jessie." She replied, going into the closet behind her where they kept the kids winter gear.
Jessie Conway had always sort of 'favored' Elijah since he had started going there, more than likely because of her not so secret crush on Greg, "Although," She came out and handed Nick the toddlers windbreaker and zip sweater, "We had a bit of a problem today that I want to talk to you about."
Both men's eyebrows rose and they followed Marge into the office after she brought another watcher up front to man the desk, "Okay, now do either of you know a Blythe Stanfield or her parents, ah..." She looked down at a sheet of paper on her desk, "Vivian and Emerson Stanfield?"
"Uh, we..." Greg looked at Nick, eyes wide with worry, "She, Blythe that is, is Elijah's mother."
Marge nodded, but saw that there was more to this than a mother wanting to see her son. Greg, and now Nick, had never informed them of a mother in the picture, "We didn't let them see him, if that's what you're worried about, despite the fact that she did inform us of her relations to Elijah."
"How did you..."
Marge smiled softly, "I've seen this before." She cleared her throat, "In order for an adult to see one of the children in our care, their name must be on the list given to us by the parent or relative who did the sign up. There have been too many cases of parents or grandparents, who are restricted from a child's life, who have shown up at their schools and daycares to take them. We don't want that to happen here."
Greg felt the tension drain out of him and he slumped down into the seat, "Thank you." He whispered, running a hand down his face.
"What I don't understand," Nick said, voice distant as he thought, "Is how she even knew where we took him for daycare. She doesn't know where we live so she couldn't have followed us."
"Well, I had to put them down on the information Pyre gave us so that whoever could do a check on the place. Could she have gotten it that way some how?" Greg mused.
Marge watched them banter idea's back and forth before shaking her head, "Gentleman? I'm sure you'll figure this out, but right now you have an antsy little boy who is sure to be getting hungry."
Nick's face flushed as Greg dropped his own head to his chest, "Right, sorry. I'll just run back and get him." Nick jumped to his feet and went out of the office.
Greg stood up and shook Marge's hand, "I understand that it's your policy to do that, but it still means a lot to me. They think Nick and I are...unnatural and have been trying various ways to show that to the judge."
"I am sorry to hear that. Elijah thinks the world of both of you." She headed around the desk to walk out with Greg, "It's those three who are unnatural. They were criticizing everything about you and this place when Jessie had been looking for Elijah's contact sheet. I have a feeling that even if they had been on it, she wouldn't have said anything out of spite."
"Mm...It's a miracle she even likes Nick." Greg muttered as he plucked up Elijah's jacket and sweater from the desk.
Marge laughed, "Yes, but she gets more enjoyment out of making him think she doesn't. Just don't tell him."
"Of course not." Greg said, with a roll of his eyes.
~~
Greg took a sip of his coffee as he watched Nick run around the backyard after Elijah. A brainstorm had started when they had been at Game Works the day before. He had been thinking of their commitment ceremony and how it was common for spouses to take the others last name. He would love to add Stokes to his name while not giving up his own and had wondered how Nick would feel about that. Now, he was thinking about Elijah and just how weird it would be for his name to be hyphenated and nottheir son's. Which, the more he thought on, the more he realized that thinking this way was a good thing. It made him acknowledge just how high his hope was off them keeping Elijah.
Nick stepped up next to him and stole the coffee out of his semi-lax grip before promptly taking a gulp. He winced and handed it back, "Cold." He said, wiping his mouth.
Greg looked down at his cup. It had been steaming a few minutes ago, "Huh. Hadn't even noticed."
"Which is rare. What's on your mind?" Nick asked, reaching around Greg to grab his bottle of water off of the table.
"When we, well, do the commitment thing. I would love to add your last name to mine, but I think it would be a little weird with Elijah." Greg said, watching as the toddler slipped and fell in the sand surrounding his play set. He made to go out there, but Elijah started laughing, so he just sighed and turned to look at Nick.
"Well..." Nick took a few sips of his water, his own attention on Elijah, "There is a way to take care of that."
It felt like Greg's heart had dropped to his stomach at that, "I suppose we don't have to do it. I mean, it was a pretty big assumption on my part. It's not like it's gunna be...mph." Greg peeled Nick's hands away from his mouth, "What?"
"Greg, you always find a way to twist my words in the wrong direction." Nick said with a shake of his head, "I meant I could adopt Elijah and make his name Sanders-Stokes as well."
Greg stared at Nick, his eyes welling with tears, "You really want that?"
Nick smiled and kissed away a tear that managed to fall, "I really do." He leaned back a little to look Greg in the eye, "I guess the only question is, do you want me to do that as well?"
"Yes, I want that as well. Just never thought about it." Greg laughed and threw his arms around Nick, coffee cup and all. He met his Texans mouth with his own in a frantic kiss. They pulled apart for air and were making to meet again when Elijah tugged hard at their jeans. "Yes?" Greg asked.
"daddy, why you cryin'?" Elijah inquired. He knew his dad was happy about something, it was obvious, but it didn't explain the crying.
Greg looked at Nick who shrugged and said, "It concerns him. Might as well."
Greg nodded and leaned over to pick Elijah up. The three of them sat on the couch, Elijah on Greg's lap and his little legs on Nick's, "Well, sproglet, here's the thing. A few weeks ago, poppy asked daddy to marry him and..."
"what marry?"
"Uh..." Both of the older men looked at each other, wary, "Well, when two people love each other...No, that sounds like the sex talk my father gave me." Greg muttered with a shiver.
Nick snorted, "It's a way for grown ups to show how much they love each other and to say they want to be together for the rest of their lives."
"oh." Elijah thought this over, "k."
"Yeah, but that's not quite what we wanted to talk about." Greg said with a smile, "When poppy and I get married, our last names are going to change and..."
"me too?" Elijah asked, interrupting his father.
"Well, no, not yours."
Elijah pouted, "why?"
"Because you're not legally Nick's son, even if he is your other father."
"why?"
"'Cause the laws are weird like that little man, but...we can fix it so that I am your legal father." Nick replied, "It's called adoption. It would add my last name to yours and, well, make you legally mine as well."
Elijah's brown eyes widened. He didn't understand the word legal but the thought of having his poppy's last name was an awesome one, "cool! we do dat?"
"Sure can babe." Greg said, leaning down to blow a raspberry on Elijah's neck, "Next month, when poppy and I take care of all the papers for the...marriage, we'll petition for the adoption."
"cool!" Elijah exclaimed again through the giggles he was emitting from Greg's raspberry.
~~
Nick straightened Elijah's clip on tie and his sports coat, both of which had gotten mussed during their ride to the courthouse. Both sets of their parents were in with the judge at that moment, talking to him about whatever it was he needed to know. Nick and Greg had been talked to as well two weeks prior and the day before, along with Elijah. They knew that investigations had been run on them and just the week before, they had had a home inspection. Greg thought that had been a little unfair, as the the same could not be said for Blythe and her parents, due to them living in Florida.
Rayne, Mark, Lauren and her husband Chris were already seated inside the courtroom along with their other friends from the lab and Greg's grandparents. Even Grissom had shown up to support them, which Nick was grateful for.
Their parents walked out of the door down the hall from where they were sitting, which led to the judges chambers. Jan and Jillian walked over to them while their fathers shook hands with the judge, "Everything is going to be okay." Jan said, when she noticed the white hue her son's face had taken on.
"It's time for you to come in now." Richard Pyre said, poking his head out the door.
When he received nods of understanding, he stepped back to allow them room to pass. He stopped Nick and Greg, allowing Elijah to pass through with his grandparents, "They want to bring Elijah onto the stand."
Both men blanched and Nick looked at his dad, "Can they do that?" He asked.
Bill Stokes nodded slowly, "If the judge feels that the child is competent enough to do so, yes." The older man sighed, "Elijah is a very bright young boy and the judge picked up on that fact yesterday."
"There's no way he's going to answer and if he does, he'll just mumble it because of his shyness. Their lawyer is going to antagonize him!" Greg exclaimed, though his voice was no louder than a whisper.
Richard wrung his hands in worry, "I don't see any way to get out of it. Does the judge know about his shyness?"
"He witnessed it first hand." Nick replied, before his eyes widened, "Stitch!"
Greg's eyes lit up, "Yeah, that'll work." He turned to Bill, "We can't go down but could you go and grab the clown out of the backseat of the Tahoe? It'll help keep him calm when he's up there."
Bill nodded and took the keys Nick handed him. He left the courtroom at a quick gate, eager not to miss anything. The three men walked up to the front of the room, pausing by their family, "Dad went to get Stitch." Nick said, at his mothers questioning glance.
They nodded but still looked confused, "There's a reason, just...Bill will tell you." Greg quirked a small smile. He and Nick leaned in to kiss Elijah's cheek before continuing on to their seats on the opposite side of the half wall.
Because it was a hearing and not a trial, there was no jury and judgment lay solely on the judge. Since he had already talked to most of the people the day before and earlier that afternoon, the only ones needed to be called forward were Rayne and her family, and the CSI's who agreed to give a testimony.
When Sara stepped down, the judge looked over his glasses at the congregation of people, "This is a highly unusual request, due to the child's age, but apparently Mister Stewart has a few questions for Elijah. If he could be brought forward please?"
Bill stood up with Elijah and Stitch in his arms and brought him up to the stand. He had explained what was going to happen to the toddler while the others testified so Elijah would know what to expect. The bailiff stepped forward and held out the bible. Bill helped Elijah place his left hand on the book as the bailiff said, "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"
Elijah nodded, "i do."
The bailiff nodded and stepped back, allowing Bill to place Elijah on the chair. They had brought in a few phone books for the toddler so he could see over the wall, and thanks to his words with the judge earlier, Bill was able to stand off to the side yet close enough for Elijah to feel safe.
The judge leaned over to him, "Do you understand what you have to do?"
Elijah nodded slowly, "yes. gots ta answer quest-tans wif truf. no make up stories."
"All right." The judge sat up and looked at the Stanfield lawyer, "You may begin."
The lawyer nodded and walked over so he was standing near Elijah, "What's your full name?"
"eliza henrik sanders."
"And how old are you?"
"t'ree."
"And what month is your birthday in?"
"april."
The lawyer nodded, "Do you know who your mom is?"
Elijah bit his lip and squeezed Stitch as he nodded, "yes."
"When did you meet her?"
"'while 'go."
"Did you want to meet her?"
Elijah shook his head, "no."
"Why not?"
"make daddy sad. no need mommy."
The judge frowned, "Did he tell you you didn't need a mommy?"
"no."
Stewart looked over at Blythe and her parents and took a deep breath when Emerson Stanfield nodded to him, "Has your daddy or mister Stokes ever...touched you?"
"Objection!" Richard said, jumping his to feet.
"Sustained. Mister Stewart, this was all covered in my talks with him and his family. Do you have anything relevant to ask?" The judge asked, his tone of voice proving that he was not happy with the way the questioning was going.
"I'm afraid that's everything." Stewart said. He walked back to the Stanfield side and listened quietly as the male Stanfield quietly argued at him.
"Mister Pyre?"
"I have no questions, your honor." Richard said.
The judge nodded and turned to Bill, "You can take him back down. If I had known that was the direction they were taking this I wouldn't have allowed it."
"I understand." Bill said. He lifted Elijah into his arms and took him back to their seat.
The judge then looked back and forth between the two tables, "Is there anyone else?"
Stewart stood up, "I would like to call Greg Sanders to the stand."
The judge nodded even as he spoke, "Let's just get one thing straight. If any questions come up that I believe I have covered sufficiently with him prior, I will not allow your questioning to continue."
"Yes, your honor."
Greg went up and after being sworn in, took a seat on the chair. He looked out and at his various family members, smiling to himself when he saw all the supportive gazes.
"Now, Mister Sanders. Please state your age and date of birth for the record."
Greg was tempted to roll his eyes as he answered, "I am twenty-seven and was born on May fifth, nineteen seventy-five."
"How long were you and miss Stanfield dating when Elijah was conceived?"
Greg managed to hold back a blanch. Did he tell the judge about this? He couldn't remember, "We weren't dating."
"No? So it was just a one night stand."
"I don't do one night stands. We were drunk when it happened."
"I see, and you were how old at the time?"
Greg frowned, "Twenty-three."
"And miss Stanfield was not yet twenty-one. Did you intend to seduce a minor with the aid of alcohol for the very purpose of sex?"
"Objection! This is irrelevant." Richard stated, looking up from the notebook he had been going through.
The judge looked at Greg, who was looking back at him confused, "Sustained. This is not relative to the custody hearing."
"Right." Stewart cleared his throat, "Mister Sanders, when you flew to Atlanta, were you even sure that the child was yours?"
"No, but I went anyway."
"Why?"
"If he was mine, I wanted to be there."
"And you had a paternity test done?"
"Of course."
Stewart nodded and looked down at the clipboard in his hands before frowning, "How long have you and Mister Stokes been dating?"
"I..." Greg started, eyes widening slightly.
"Objection! Your honor..."
"Yes, mister Pyre, I know. Mister Stewart, you are back onto grounds that I have already covered." The judge said, sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose under his glasses.
Stewart cleared his throat, "No further questions your honor."
"Mister Pyre?"
"None, your honor."
The judge turned to Greg, "You may step down."
Greg walked back to his seat on shaky legs. This whole thing was ridiculous. All Blythe and her parents were trying to do was pick at his and Nick's relationship, even trying to pry answers out of Elijah on that subject. He had an inkling that it was the eldest Stanfield who penned those questions, due to the lawyers hesitation before asking a few of them.
Greg looked over at the Stanfield family. Blythe's parents were talking quietly to the lawyer while Blythe sat staring out into space, chewing on a piece of gum.
"Is there anyone else?" The judge asked, though the tone of his voice suggested he wasn't looking forward to it if there was. Richard shook his head and eventually Stewart did as well, "Very well. I'm calling a brief recess. We'll reconvene in fifteen minutes." With that said, he stood and went into his chambers.
Greg and Nick stood up and went back to their family, "daddy, poppy, i gots ta go potty." Elijah said, peering up at them from Jillian's lap.
"I'll take him." Catherine said as she walked over, "Come on sweetie."
"k." Elijah slid of off Jillian's lap and took Catherine's hand as she led him out of the room.
"This is a bunch of crock." Warrick said, shaking his head, "They're just poking at your private business."
"The judge caught that." Bill said, "I would have too. He also caught on to Miss. Stanfield's apparent lack of interest in the proceedings. He glared at her more than once during all of this."
"I think you guys have it in the bag." Sara added, squeezing Nick's arm.
Both of them nodded and left to use the bathroom themselves. Once that was taken care of, they spent the last ten minutes of the recess talking to their friends and family, with Elijah sitting on both Greg and Nick's legs.
Soon, Richard was urging them back to their seats. The judge came back in a few seconds later and once they were all seated, he crossed his hands on the desk in front of him, "These past few days, today included, have been filled with talks on both sides of the spectrum. Some of them really made an impression on me," Here, he smiled as he looked at Elijah, "And others just left me with a headache." He glanced at the Stanfield's.
"I have come to a decision and it is one that I had decided at the start of this case. I thought, perhaps, something might happen to change my mind, but the fact of the matter is, nothing did. It only strengthened what I believe to be the right choice. I rule in favor of..." He paused and looked at both 'parties.'
Greg and Nick clasped hands under the table and sucked in their breath along with the rest of the attendees who sat behind them while waiting for the judge to start speaking again.
TBC...