Takes place during Season 4; Episode 6 ("Jackpot")
Nick got the call at two that morning. Nick was half asleep when he groggily answered his phone, "Helloooo?"
"Nicky, I'm sorry to call you so early, but I promised to call when it was time," Nick heard his brother-in-law, Jeff, explain on the other end of the phone.
It took a few minutes for the words Jeff said to sink in. When Nick finally realized what Jeff was saying, he all but jumped out of his bed.
"It's time? It's time?! I'm going to be an uncle?!!" Nick was frantically trying to find the light switch in his bedroom.
Jeff chuckled through the phone. "Yes, Nicky you're going to be an uncle, again. I'm taking Kimberly to the hospital now before her labor pains get worse. Emma Grace is here keeping an eye on Lexi."
"Jeff tell Kimberly I'll be home in a couple of hours," Nick informed while he threw random clothes into a duffle bag.
"Nick, you know all of us would love to see you again, but if you need to stay for work we all understand," Jeff smiled as he thought of Nick running around his house like a chicken with its head cut off.
"Jeff I've never missed being home when one of my sisters brought my new niece or nephew home, and I'm not going to start missing them coming home," Nick informed his brother-in-law.
"I know Nicky, I know. I'll tell Emma Grace that you'll be here soon," Jeff was still chuckling when he hung up the phone.
When Nick got off the phone, he finished packing for the few days that he would be home. Then Nick took a shower and ate breakfast; he knew it was too early to call Grissom and ask for time off. Nick picked up around his house and then ordered his ticket for his flight to Dallas. Around five-thirty that morning, Nick decided it was a reasonable time to call Grissom.
Grissom had no problem with Nick taking a few days off of work, after all, Nick had saved up some vacation time. At seven that morning Nick took a cab to the airport and headed for Dallas. As soon as Nick was off the plane, he got a cab as fast as he could and headed for Kimberly and Jeff's house.
It was ten in the morning when Nick softly tapped on the door of Kimberly and Jeff's house. Emma Grace had answered the door before Nick knocked again. Nick just stood there for a few minutes because the scene of Emma Grace in pajama shorts, a t-shirt, her hair in a messy bun, and baby Lexi on her hip took his breath away.
Nick had been able to come home for the summer for a week in May, July, and August; three weeks in total. Nick and Emma Grace now had a routine of calling each other every night. Even if Nick was working crazy hours and couldn't get to the phone, he would have a voicemail on his phone, and he called Emma Grace back as soon as he could. Nick hadn't been able to come back home since August though. And Emma Grace had always possessed the skill of taking Nick's breath away with her beauty.
"Hey, Nicky." Emma Grace smiled as she brought Nick out of his thoughts, and stepped out of the way so Nick could walk through the door.
"Oh, Hey," Nick smiled as he walked through the door. He put his duffle bag on the couch in the living room and then turned toward Emma Grace and Lexi.
"Come here sweet Lexi Mae," Nick said smiling and holding his arms out to his young niece. Lexi giggled and then reached for Nick. Emma Grace laughed as she handed Lexi over to Nick.
"While you have her, I'm going to go and get ready for the day. You and I will be sharing the guest bedroom so I can take your bag in there- unless you were going to stay with Bill and Jillian?" Emma Grace cautiously explained looking at Nick and the face he was making, with a confused expression on her face.
"Oh, okay. I didn't think Kimberly and Jeff were going to want company," was all Nick had to say as he thought about the tension that was sure to be there when he and Emma Grace shared a bed. Nick couldn't deny that he still was attracted to Emma after all these years. It had been different when the two of them had shared a bed back when Nick came home because of the anniversary of Emma's family's death. Emma had been hurting and needed him just to be there to hold her and make her feel protected as she mourned her family. It had also been different when Ashley had graduated high school. The only reason Nick and Emma Grace had shared a bed on that occasion had been because there was nowhere else in the house for them to sleep and they both had work to do. Plus the thought of his whole family being in the house and Emma Grace telling him "that ship has sailed" didn't make it so...intense. This would definitely be more awkward.
"I'm staying for a couple of days to help them because I know they're going to be tired and have their hands full with two little ones. Kimberly knew how excited you are about your new niece so she thought it would be fun to have you here too," Emma was trying to talk as if Nick's reaction didn't bother her.
"Okay, I'll, um, I'll stay here for a day or two," Nick uncomfortably said and then focused on Lexi. Emma Grace grabbed Nick's bag and headed for the guest bedroom; she needed some time to think about Nick's reaction.
While Emma Grace was in the guest room, Nick took care of Lexi and then called his parents to let them know he was in town. After Nick had got off the phone with his parents, he looked at Lexi, "okay Lexi, now that Granpa and Granma know I'm here, lets go make coffee for Aunt Emma, so she won't be grouchy," Nick said making a face as if he were scared of Emma Grace without coffee, and the toddler in his arms just laughed.
As soon as Nick had poured a cup of coffee for Emma Grace, she walked into the kitchen. "I smell coffee!" Emma exclaimed with a grin on her face and took Lexi from Nick.
"Lexi insisted that I come make you a cup of coffee before you got done because she felt so bad for keeping you up most of the night. And she didn't want you to kill me because you were caffeine deprived," Nick was having trouble keeping a straight face as he handed Emma Grace her cup of coffee.
"That was very considerate of you, Lexi," Emma said smiling as she kissed Lexi on the head, but she never took her eyes, which were glowing and dancing with humor, away from Nick.
"Ems, what's on the agenda today?" Nick asked while drinking his coffee too.
"I was thinking about doing some laundry and washing what little dishes are in the sink, so Kimberly and Jeff don't have to worry about it when they get home. Then some of the kids are going to come over after school and make welcome home decorations for the house."
"Sounds like a good idea. Why don't you let me put Lexi in her playpen and wash the dishes while you work on the laundry?" Nick asked ready to start working.
"Okay," Emma Grace handed Lexi back to Nick and headed to the laundry room. By the time the two of them were done, they had decided to make the beds and go grocery shopping too, some of the other nieces and nephews were showing up at the house.
Fourteen-year-olds Emily and Joshua came into the house first, and each was holding the hand of a child. Emily had seven-year-old Molly, and Joshua had five, almost six, year-old Brittany. Eleven-year-olds Jessica and Jennifer came in last, and they were carrying all of the art supplies.
"Okay Kiddos, I'm going to make snacks and ya'll are going to get your homework done before we do our art project," Emma Grace said stepping into the role of caretaker and for, what felt like the thousandth time, Nick was reminded of the fantastic mother Emma Grace would be one day.
After snacks and homework, everyone spent hours on making the homemade welcome home, welcome baby, and congratulations banners. Emma Grace had decided to let each child make an individual card for the family, and she was helping Brittany make her card while Emily helped Molly make her card. Jessica and Jennifer were talking among themselves as they helped each other pick out the right shade of glitter for their cards.
Nick was sitting on the couch taking all of the sights and sounds in. He was soon joined by his nephew Joshua, who was holding Lexi. "I'm glad you're home for a little while. I feel like the two weeks you came home for our summer break went by way too fast," Joshua said smiling at his uncle. It wasn't unusual for the Stokes men to openly talk about their feelings. They had all learned to be openly sensitive from Bill Stokes, and as each of Nick's sisters had gotten married, they had found husbands who were comfortable talking about their feelings. So it was no surprise that the third generation of men in the family had that same comfort.
"I know Josh. I miss Y'all all the time," Nick smiled at his nephew who was growing up too fast.
"You miss Aunt Emma the most, though." This was not a question, but a statement.
"What?" Nick could not hide the shock on his face.
"Uncle Nick, we're not blind. Ashley, Andrew, Emily, and I all know you have some kind of feelings for Aunt Emma. We just don't know how long you've had feelings for Emma. Grandpa, Grandma, and none of the others will tell us anything, but we can figure it out for ourselves." Joshua explained and before Nick could answer his nephew, Nick's oldest niece Ashley came into the house with her brothers Andrew and Anthony.
Joshua got up from the couch and went to talk to Andrew and Anthony. Ashley had taken Lexi and joined Emma Grace at the "craft table." Then Emma Grace asked Nick to help Molly get the paint off of her hands, and Nick didn't have time to think about what Joshua had said.
The rest of the day resulted in Nick seeing all of his nieces and nephews. All of them came by the house at some point in the day to make a card for Kimberly, Jeff, and the new baby. After crafts, there was help with homework and school projects, riding horses, playing outside, and a lot of laughter. Some of Nick's sisters and his brother Chris stopped by to help with the kids, and the whole family had dinner at the Stokes childhood home with Bill and Jillian Stokes.
All too soon the day was gone, and Kimberly still had not had the baby. Nick and Emma Grace cleaned up the homemade crafts and put them away to dry. Emma Grace had gotten Lexi asleep, and she and Nick tag teamed the kitchen and cleaned it up for the second time that day. Nick called Jeff and checked on Kimberly one last time before he and Emma Grace called it a night and made their way to the guest bedroom.
"You still sleep on the left side?" Emma Grace asked as she threw a pillow onto the left side of the bed.
"Yeah, do you still hog all the covers and almost all of the bed?" Nick asked teasing her.
"I don't know. You'll have to tell me if I do in the morning," Emma Grace said and then she headed for the bathroom to get ready for bed. Nick knew that it would take Emma Grace awhile, so he changed into his sweatpants and laid down on the bed. After what felt like an hour, Emma Grace came out of the bathroom in a pair of pink pajama shorts and matching tank top. She had washed all of the makeup off her face and was pulling her hair out of the bun she had put it in earlier.
Emma Grace blushed when she saw Nick, "What? Do I have raccoon eyes or something?"
Nick realized he had been staring at Emma Grace and it was his turn to blush. "Um, no. Sorry. I was just lost in thought." Nick lied horribly.
"Okay. Bathroom's all yours." Emma climbed into bed and smiled one more time at Nick before laying down with her back facing her.
Nick went to the bathroom and brushed his teeth. When he came back out, he could tell Emma Grace was already asleep. Nick reached up and turned the lamp off on the nightstand and crawled into bed. "Night Ems," he whispered, and then he turned off the lamp beside him.
Nick hadn't realized how tired he was and he hoped that would mean he would fall asleep quickly. Nick was in and out of consciousness when he felt Emma Grace cuddle up to him in her sleep. Yeah, definitely awkward. Nick thought, and then he fell asleep.