One Shot
Title: Mother's Love
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Spoilers: Fannysmackin'(post)
Disclaimer: Not mine but are instead products of Anthony Zuiker and CBS. I'm making no money from this, I merely love using them :)
Summary: They may be a little smothering but they only mean well. Not entirely a Nick piece as we get to see from Greg's mother's POV also.
AN: Just a little idea that struck me, and simply because I love Jillian Stokes, you just know that Nick got all his morals from her!
Mother's Love
Kristina Sanders twisted the edge of her coat between her hands agitatedly and kept glancing up everytime a doctor or nurse passed her in the hallway. She knew she’d been getting on their nerves a bit, continuously asking questions but didn’t they get that this wasn’t any old patient, it was her son?
Her only son actually, and she twisted her hands again until it was almost painful what with the fabric cutting into her hand. She’d wanted to go in and see him (again) but considering the first time she went in she was practically screaming she guessed she could see why the doctors were reluctant to let her in again after that.
Flashback
“What the Hell were you thinking! Were you even thinking at all Gregory?!”
“Mom…”
“Don’t you Mom me, why the Hell didn’t you tell me you were a CSI Greg? Do you know how dangerous it is out there? Do you? You clearly…”
“Mom! I’m an adult, I can make these decisions for myself!”
“And look what happens when you do! I swear Greg, why do you always have to be so difficult!?”
End flashback
He’d reminded her then of when he was just a little boy and he’d wandered off slightly when something caught his eye in the park. He knew he wasn’t meant to walk off like that and had looked terribly guilty when she’d found him later. She’d practically shaken him, as she demanded what he’d been thinking.
The difference between that time and this time was that this time Nick Stokes had come running in along with the doctors as they’d asked her to leave and had wrapped his arms around Greg comfortingly. She’d managed to fleetingly look back to see her son clutching at his boyfriend’s jacket tightly and she could feel the guilt well up inside her, just like it always did, and just like always she still couldn’t help herself from losing it.
She looked down at her hands and blinked at the white-knuckled grip she had on her coat. Forcing herself to loosen her grip she glanced up again trying to work out where her husband had disappeared to. He’d been just outside the door when she’d been demanding answers from their son but she hadn’t seen him since. He’d probably gone to find some coffee knowing that his wife was too agitated right now to talk reasonably and he’d long since given up trying when she was like that.
She made her body relax into the unyielding waiting room chair and tried to calm herself enough that they’d let her in again. She couldn’t help feeling protective of her baby, he was her one and only and she’d been unable to have any others, knowing she’d been very lucky to have even one child. She closed her eyes then trying to bite back the tears threatening to fall and she shuddered from the effort.
“Are you Mrs Sanders?”
Gasping silently in surprise Kristina opened her eyes and found herself looking up at a well-dressed mature woman. The woman was wearing a tailor cut outfit that flattered her still remarkably trim body considering she had to be over 50 and she had shoulder length brown hair that flowed elegantly. Her face, whilst currently set in a tired solemn look, still held the beauty that must’ve been even more prominent in her younger days and silently Kristina cringed at how she must look in comparison; dirty blonde hair tangled from fingers running through it in worry, her face make-upless and fatigued and her baggy clothes being the first thing she’d been able to grab before jumping on the plan to Las Vegas.
How was it that this woman, clearly worlds apart from Kristina herself, knew her name?
“How’d you know my name?” she asked aloud and she watched as the woman smiled slightly.
“Two reasons. One, only a mother could look that worried and Greg’s the only patient in the room opposite, and two, he looks a lot like you.”
Kristina’s eyebrows rose in shock as her son’s name passed through the glossed lips and she could feel her mental hackles rise in suspicion.
“Okay, I’ll accept that…and how is it exactly that you know my son?” she said, knowing already she sounded both defensive and threatening but the woman merely smiled in understanding and sat down beside her before extending her hand in greeting.
“Jillian Stokes, I’m Nick’s mother,” she said and Kristina wanted to slap herself on the forehead as she groaned.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” she started but stopped when Jillian patted her shoulder reassuringly.
“Don’t apologise, believe me, I’ve been where you are far too many times than I’m comfortable with. Being on alert can hardly be held against you.”
Kristina dropped her head and her hold tightened on her coat again as she felt the tears welling up once more.
“I think everyone else would beg to differ right now,” she said shakily and glanced up as Jillian tilted her head in question, “I shouted at him…Nick’s in there by the way, clearing up the mess I’ve made.”
She felt a tear escape then and reached a shaking hand up to her mouth to hold back any noise. She didn’t want to fall apart like this in front of Nick’s mother, this wasn’t how they were supposed to first meet but she couldn’t help herself and she clenched her eyes closed in a last attempt to maintain her dignity.
They opened again though a minute later when she felt a reassuring arm go around her shoulders and she automatically followed the comforting hug until she had her head resting on a strong shoulder.
Jillian silently rubbed her shoulders as she continued to shudder and then, ever so softly, Jillian started talking, her voice almost wistful as though she was recalling a memory.
“The first time Nick was in hospital from an accident on the job was in Dallas. He’d been a beat cop back then and I got a phone call one day saying there had been a shooting at one of the local grocery stores and that Nick had been injured,” Jillian stopped for a moment before breathing in and continuing a little shakily, “Turns out some kid had been trying to impress his less than stellar friends by robbing the store and Nick had been the closest officer.”
Kristina managed to tilt her head a little and she could see the haunted look in Jillian’s eyes as she recounted the event. She wanted to tell her that it was okay, that she didn’t need to do this but the older woman continued a second later.
“It wasn’t even a life-threatening shot, through the shoulder but nothing had been shattered or punctured, a clean through and through but even as the doctor was telling me all this all I could think was ‘That’s my baby you’re talking about, my youngest, the one that needs the most protection because he has the most awful luck.’ But doctors see hundreds of people everyday and at some point they just have to decide who the most life-threatening ones are, forgetting occasionally that whilst they may have seen such wounds a million times, this was the first time my baby boy had been shot for me.”
Jillian tightened her grip around Kristina’s shoulders.
“When they finally let me in I demanded to know what he’d been doing going in without back up, practically screamed at him that if he continued playing the hero I’d be burying him before he’d bury me. And he watched me silently, like he’s always done, even when he was just a boy, and he tells me ever so calmly that he was doing his job, and he’d do it again if he had to.”
Kristina winced and dropped her head further. Jillian’s hand rubbed at her shoulder causing her to look up and she found understanding in the warm brown eyes.
“We may say stupid things sometimes, but we’re mothers. We’re allowed to… we just have to remember that those boys we protected and cherished are adults now too and they’re doing something they love. And I know that you, just like I am, are actually very proud of your son right now, you’re just frightened. And that’s okay, don’t you ever let anyone tell you otherwise.”
Kristina bit her bottom lip but despite her best efforts she couldn’t hold back the sob that tore out of her throat. Jillian simply pulled her closer and rocked her gently, comfortingly like someone who had done so a million times before for many bawling children or crying adults. It felt good to let someone else be the one in charge for once.
“K-Kristina,” she choked out eventually, “Call me Kristina.”
Jillian smiled and nodded slightly.
………………………………………………………….
Nick ran his fingers gently through Greg’s hair as he gazed down at the bruised face. The black and blue bruises created a palette of colour on his lover’s face and his right eye was swollen shut but to Nick he was the most beautiful thing in the world because he was alive when he could’ve so easily been killed. His jaw tightened in reflex and he forcibly relaxed it to relieve the tension through his body.
“Nick?”
Nick looked down at the croaky voice that had escaped his boyfriend (whom he had thought was finally sleeping) and sat himself on the edge of the bed as he took Greg’s good hand in his.
“Hey love, you done faking it yet because I think someone wants the bed,” he joked weakly but it was enough to make Greg’s lips twitch briefly in a smile.
“Give me five more minutes…Nick, is my mom still…”
Greg drifted off but Nick knew what he meant and he gently squeezed the hand he held.
“She’s in the waiting room, I think she’s calmed down some, do you want me to go check?”
“I wouldn’t, she’s only just drifted off.”
Nick whipped his head round to see his mother slowly closing the door behind her and he looked back at Greg who looked just as surprised.
“Mom? When did you get here?” Nick stood and hugged his mother when she was close enough. She patted his cheek after they pulled back before heading over to Greg and stroked the hair off his forehead gently whilst Nick walked round to the other side of the bed so that they now both stood either side of the injured man.
“Mrs Stokes?” Greg said in confusion and Jillian chuckled as both she and Nick settled on the bed again.
“How many times do I have to tell you to call me Jillian?” she asked and Greg made to shrug but winced a moment later.
“Mom?”
Jillian looked between the two boys with a small smile before she returned to her idle combing of Greg’s hair.
“After I got a rather hysterical message from you,” she looked at Nick who blushed as he recalled making a desperate phone call home, “I got onto the earliest plane. Bill would’ve come too but unfortunately he’s got a particularly nasty court case at the moment. He did say he’ll be down as some as possible though, and he’ll call later.”
“Mrs Stokes, you didn’t need to fly all the way down here!” Greg said as Nick said something similar at the same time. Jillian merely smiled again and shrugged.
“Such silly boys, of course I did! I never would’ve slept without seeing how two of my three favourite boys are doing and when family is hurt, we’ll always come running. Believe me, I was very nearly accompanied by the clan but I thought too much stress of the entire Stokes family might be a little exhausting for you, Greg honey.”
Nick blinked before he felt a suspicious burning in his eyes. He looked over at his lover to find the visible brown eye becoming glassy and he reached forward to cup Greg’s jaw when it trembled. It shivered again when Jillian leaned over and kissed Greg’s forehead.
“You’re mothers just worried Greg, and once the air has cleared a bit I’ll think you’ll find she’s actually very proud of you, not only for saving a man’s life but also for becoming a CSI,” Jillian looked over at Nick then too and he smiled in reflex as he remembered a similar, if less upsetting event with a worried mother and a too proud son.
“Thanks mom,” Nick whispered and they both turned back to Greg who’d closed his good eye to hold back the tears. Nick leaned forwards then and kissed his cheek lightly.
“Thanks Jillian,” Greg said shakily and Jillian smiled.
Finite
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Spoilers: Fannysmackin'(post)
Disclaimer: Not mine but are instead products of Anthony Zuiker and CBS. I'm making no money from this, I merely love using them :)
Summary: They may be a little smothering but they only mean well. Not entirely a Nick piece as we get to see from Greg's mother's POV also.
AN: Just a little idea that struck me, and simply because I love Jillian Stokes, you just know that Nick got all his morals from her!
Mother's Love
Kristina Sanders twisted the edge of her coat between her hands agitatedly and kept glancing up everytime a doctor or nurse passed her in the hallway. She knew she’d been getting on their nerves a bit, continuously asking questions but didn’t they get that this wasn’t any old patient, it was her son?
Her only son actually, and she twisted her hands again until it was almost painful what with the fabric cutting into her hand. She’d wanted to go in and see him (again) but considering the first time she went in she was practically screaming she guessed she could see why the doctors were reluctant to let her in again after that.
Flashback
“What the Hell were you thinking! Were you even thinking at all Gregory?!”
“Mom…”
“Don’t you Mom me, why the Hell didn’t you tell me you were a CSI Greg? Do you know how dangerous it is out there? Do you? You clearly…”
“Mom! I’m an adult, I can make these decisions for myself!”
“And look what happens when you do! I swear Greg, why do you always have to be so difficult!?”
End flashback
He’d reminded her then of when he was just a little boy and he’d wandered off slightly when something caught his eye in the park. He knew he wasn’t meant to walk off like that and had looked terribly guilty when she’d found him later. She’d practically shaken him, as she demanded what he’d been thinking.
The difference between that time and this time was that this time Nick Stokes had come running in along with the doctors as they’d asked her to leave and had wrapped his arms around Greg comfortingly. She’d managed to fleetingly look back to see her son clutching at his boyfriend’s jacket tightly and she could feel the guilt well up inside her, just like it always did, and just like always she still couldn’t help herself from losing it.
She looked down at her hands and blinked at the white-knuckled grip she had on her coat. Forcing herself to loosen her grip she glanced up again trying to work out where her husband had disappeared to. He’d been just outside the door when she’d been demanding answers from their son but she hadn’t seen him since. He’d probably gone to find some coffee knowing that his wife was too agitated right now to talk reasonably and he’d long since given up trying when she was like that.
She made her body relax into the unyielding waiting room chair and tried to calm herself enough that they’d let her in again. She couldn’t help feeling protective of her baby, he was her one and only and she’d been unable to have any others, knowing she’d been very lucky to have even one child. She closed her eyes then trying to bite back the tears threatening to fall and she shuddered from the effort.
“Are you Mrs Sanders?”
Gasping silently in surprise Kristina opened her eyes and found herself looking up at a well-dressed mature woman. The woman was wearing a tailor cut outfit that flattered her still remarkably trim body considering she had to be over 50 and she had shoulder length brown hair that flowed elegantly. Her face, whilst currently set in a tired solemn look, still held the beauty that must’ve been even more prominent in her younger days and silently Kristina cringed at how she must look in comparison; dirty blonde hair tangled from fingers running through it in worry, her face make-upless and fatigued and her baggy clothes being the first thing she’d been able to grab before jumping on the plan to Las Vegas.
How was it that this woman, clearly worlds apart from Kristina herself, knew her name?
“How’d you know my name?” she asked aloud and she watched as the woman smiled slightly.
“Two reasons. One, only a mother could look that worried and Greg’s the only patient in the room opposite, and two, he looks a lot like you.”
Kristina’s eyebrows rose in shock as her son’s name passed through the glossed lips and she could feel her mental hackles rise in suspicion.
“Okay, I’ll accept that…and how is it exactly that you know my son?” she said, knowing already she sounded both defensive and threatening but the woman merely smiled in understanding and sat down beside her before extending her hand in greeting.
“Jillian Stokes, I’m Nick’s mother,” she said and Kristina wanted to slap herself on the forehead as she groaned.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” she started but stopped when Jillian patted her shoulder reassuringly.
“Don’t apologise, believe me, I’ve been where you are far too many times than I’m comfortable with. Being on alert can hardly be held against you.”
Kristina dropped her head and her hold tightened on her coat again as she felt the tears welling up once more.
“I think everyone else would beg to differ right now,” she said shakily and glanced up as Jillian tilted her head in question, “I shouted at him…Nick’s in there by the way, clearing up the mess I’ve made.”
She felt a tear escape then and reached a shaking hand up to her mouth to hold back any noise. She didn’t want to fall apart like this in front of Nick’s mother, this wasn’t how they were supposed to first meet but she couldn’t help herself and she clenched her eyes closed in a last attempt to maintain her dignity.
They opened again though a minute later when she felt a reassuring arm go around her shoulders and she automatically followed the comforting hug until she had her head resting on a strong shoulder.
Jillian silently rubbed her shoulders as she continued to shudder and then, ever so softly, Jillian started talking, her voice almost wistful as though she was recalling a memory.
“The first time Nick was in hospital from an accident on the job was in Dallas. He’d been a beat cop back then and I got a phone call one day saying there had been a shooting at one of the local grocery stores and that Nick had been injured,” Jillian stopped for a moment before breathing in and continuing a little shakily, “Turns out some kid had been trying to impress his less than stellar friends by robbing the store and Nick had been the closest officer.”
Kristina managed to tilt her head a little and she could see the haunted look in Jillian’s eyes as she recounted the event. She wanted to tell her that it was okay, that she didn’t need to do this but the older woman continued a second later.
“It wasn’t even a life-threatening shot, through the shoulder but nothing had been shattered or punctured, a clean through and through but even as the doctor was telling me all this all I could think was ‘That’s my baby you’re talking about, my youngest, the one that needs the most protection because he has the most awful luck.’ But doctors see hundreds of people everyday and at some point they just have to decide who the most life-threatening ones are, forgetting occasionally that whilst they may have seen such wounds a million times, this was the first time my baby boy had been shot for me.”
Jillian tightened her grip around Kristina’s shoulders.
“When they finally let me in I demanded to know what he’d been doing going in without back up, practically screamed at him that if he continued playing the hero I’d be burying him before he’d bury me. And he watched me silently, like he’s always done, even when he was just a boy, and he tells me ever so calmly that he was doing his job, and he’d do it again if he had to.”
Kristina winced and dropped her head further. Jillian’s hand rubbed at her shoulder causing her to look up and she found understanding in the warm brown eyes.
“We may say stupid things sometimes, but we’re mothers. We’re allowed to… we just have to remember that those boys we protected and cherished are adults now too and they’re doing something they love. And I know that you, just like I am, are actually very proud of your son right now, you’re just frightened. And that’s okay, don’t you ever let anyone tell you otherwise.”
Kristina bit her bottom lip but despite her best efforts she couldn’t hold back the sob that tore out of her throat. Jillian simply pulled her closer and rocked her gently, comfortingly like someone who had done so a million times before for many bawling children or crying adults. It felt good to let someone else be the one in charge for once.
“K-Kristina,” she choked out eventually, “Call me Kristina.”
Jillian smiled and nodded slightly.
………………………………………………………….
Nick ran his fingers gently through Greg’s hair as he gazed down at the bruised face. The black and blue bruises created a palette of colour on his lover’s face and his right eye was swollen shut but to Nick he was the most beautiful thing in the world because he was alive when he could’ve so easily been killed. His jaw tightened in reflex and he forcibly relaxed it to relieve the tension through his body.
“Nick?”
Nick looked down at the croaky voice that had escaped his boyfriend (whom he had thought was finally sleeping) and sat himself on the edge of the bed as he took Greg’s good hand in his.
“Hey love, you done faking it yet because I think someone wants the bed,” he joked weakly but it was enough to make Greg’s lips twitch briefly in a smile.
“Give me five more minutes…Nick, is my mom still…”
Greg drifted off but Nick knew what he meant and he gently squeezed the hand he held.
“She’s in the waiting room, I think she’s calmed down some, do you want me to go check?”
“I wouldn’t, she’s only just drifted off.”
Nick whipped his head round to see his mother slowly closing the door behind her and he looked back at Greg who looked just as surprised.
“Mom? When did you get here?” Nick stood and hugged his mother when she was close enough. She patted his cheek after they pulled back before heading over to Greg and stroked the hair off his forehead gently whilst Nick walked round to the other side of the bed so that they now both stood either side of the injured man.
“Mrs Stokes?” Greg said in confusion and Jillian chuckled as both she and Nick settled on the bed again.
“How many times do I have to tell you to call me Jillian?” she asked and Greg made to shrug but winced a moment later.
“Mom?”
Jillian looked between the two boys with a small smile before she returned to her idle combing of Greg’s hair.
“After I got a rather hysterical message from you,” she looked at Nick who blushed as he recalled making a desperate phone call home, “I got onto the earliest plane. Bill would’ve come too but unfortunately he’s got a particularly nasty court case at the moment. He did say he’ll be down as some as possible though, and he’ll call later.”
“Mrs Stokes, you didn’t need to fly all the way down here!” Greg said as Nick said something similar at the same time. Jillian merely smiled again and shrugged.
“Such silly boys, of course I did! I never would’ve slept without seeing how two of my three favourite boys are doing and when family is hurt, we’ll always come running. Believe me, I was very nearly accompanied by the clan but I thought too much stress of the entire Stokes family might be a little exhausting for you, Greg honey.”
Nick blinked before he felt a suspicious burning in his eyes. He looked over at his lover to find the visible brown eye becoming glassy and he reached forward to cup Greg’s jaw when it trembled. It shivered again when Jillian leaned over and kissed Greg’s forehead.
“You’re mothers just worried Greg, and once the air has cleared a bit I’ll think you’ll find she’s actually very proud of you, not only for saving a man’s life but also for becoming a CSI,” Jillian looked over at Nick then too and he smiled in reflex as he remembered a similar, if less upsetting event with a worried mother and a too proud son.
“Thanks mom,” Nick whispered and they both turned back to Greg who’d closed his good eye to hold back the tears. Nick leaned forwards then and kissed his cheek lightly.
“Thanks Jillian,” Greg said shakily and Jillian smiled.
Finite