This is the final chapter.
Finally 
Many, many thanks to my beta
Waiting for putting up with me.
This isn't exactly how I wanted this story to go, but I guess that's what I get for taking TWO YEARS to finish it.
Oh, and since it's kind of long, I had to break it up. Sorry about that mod's but this chapter was more than 20,000 characters.
Finally
Catherine rested her head on his solid chest. She could feel the heart beat of her
fairly new husband. She felt his hand caress her huge belly full of their daughter. It felt good to just to stand with him with no words. She took in the calmness of him and surrounded herself with it. Catherine loved the way he held her. It made her feel safe and secure.
“Catherine,” his soft quiet voice whispered above her.” I have to go.”
“Yeah, she sighed,” I know. It’s just I don’t want to let you go.”
“You know I tried to put this off as long as I could.” He continued to talk above her head.
A breeze started up as the two remained in the parking lot of the Crime Lab where Catherine was working only part time until the baby came. Her husband, Detective Tony Vartann, was taking a few days off to wrap up his life in the city he used to live, Seattle.
The house he bought for them was sitting in escrow with the promise that someday they would all live there together. Today, with Catherine’s due date 4 weeks away, he didn’t expect her to move anytime soon.
Her face winced as the baby shot a sharp quick kick into Catherine’s lower abdomen. He noticed the look on her face as her hand quickly made its way to the spot where the baby’s feet sat, right above her bladder.
She squeezed her hand over his as the pain subsided.
“You okay?” He asked.
“Yeah, she just kicked me really hard. She’s been doing that a lot lately.” Catherine looked up at her husband. “Perhaps she knows her daddy is leaving?”
“HMM” he smirked.
“It’s not like
she is going anywhere soon. The doctor said she is locked up tight in there.” Catherine continued to rub her belly. She was now standing in front of her husband with a look of sadness on her face.
“I’ll be back before you know it,” He said as he stroked her face. Her rounder fuller, but still beautiful face.
“I know, I know, I have to let you leave, but I still don’t want to.” Catherine closed her eyes breathing in the calm coolness of him.
Her worries were compounded now that her new husband will be away. Pregnancy induced she suspected but she didn’t want him to worry about her either. So she smiled at him as he wiped away a piece of stray hair from her face.
“I’ll be fine,” She murmured hoping her words would make
her feel better.
“I know,” he replied.
Without another word, Catherine watched her husband get into the car that he was standing next to. Her heart sank some at the sight of him walking away from her. She felt as if she wouldn’t see him again. More pregnancy worries she suspected but it still didn’t make her feel any better.
“I love you,” she mouthed to him as he took one last glance at his beautiful pregnant wife while his car rolled by then slowly sped up merging into traffic.
Her heart still felt heavy along with the rest of her body. But somehow she managed to walk her very pregnant body from the parking lot to the front of the lab.
She stopped and sighed before entering the glass doors. Inside was a whole different world, a world of crime, hate, and destruction. Things she usually liked or could tolerate, but lately was more like a place where she couldn’t wait to escape from. The only good thing about going to work lately; was that Grissom assigned her ‘desk duty’. Normally she would have hated sitting at a desk; answering the phone or waiting for lab results. She would have much rather preferred to be in the lab, solving the puzzles at it were.
But not today, she could barely bring herself in. It’s not like she didn’t absolutely LOVE her job. It’s just Catherine Willows decided that there was more to life than trying to figure out who did what to whom and why. A thought, no doubt, also brought on by being 8 months pregnant. A thought also that she would
probably abandon once the baby does arrive and she was up at midnight, then 3 am then 6 am….. Then the notion of hustling her body to the Las Vegas Crime lab didn’t seem like a bad one at all.
Once seated at her ‘desk’. Another thing she missed, her old desk and office with the ducks floating around somewhere. Sitting at
that particular desk made her feel useless.
Catherine felt another sharp jab to the lower part of her belly. She rubbed it quickly as the phone rang. She picked up and was almost relieved to hear Grissom on the other end of the line...
“I’m glad you are here,” she heard him smile through the phone.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” She asked sort of confused by his statement.
“Oh, no reason.” Catherine ignored his pointless remark as she felt another sharp pain.
Her breath drew in as she realized that one hurt more than the other.
“What do you want?” She asked more playfully than upset hoping she was feeling more baby kicks than labor pains.
“I need you to bring me the lab results from the Taylor case. You know the one that Wendy and I are working on. You are capable of walking aren’t you?” Catherine pictured Grissom’s smirk as he sat in his office a few feet away.
“I’ll be right there,” She said as she began to hang up the phone.
“Oh, one more thing,” She heard Grissom’s voice still on the line, “when you drop of the lab results, can you bring some evidence I have back to Wendy? Thanks, I appreciate it.” Before she could say a word otherwise, Grissom hung up.
“HMPHF” Catherine groaned.
She picked herself up off her chair and began to make her way back the long hall towards Grissom’s office. Surprisingly it felt good to walk. She didn’t feel any more sharp pains, or kicks or whatever was going on inside her large belly.
Today might not be so bad after all…She smiled practically bumping into Wendy.
“Oh Catherine,” Wendy exhaled grateful that in her hurried rushed state; she didn’t knock Catherine over.
After composing herself Wendy went on, “God you look great. I mean really, really great.” Wendy smiled her brightest smile at Catherine. Before she knew it, Wendy’s hand was caressing Catherine’s large stomach filling the space between the two women.
“Catherine,” Wendy the lab tech started, “I have to say, you are one of the sexiest pregnant women I have ever seen. Your belly is so huge, and round, and plump….” the tech drabbled on with both hands rubbing all over Catherine’s belly.
A smirk was all Catherine could come up with as she stood while Wendy continued to fondle Catherine.
Not even a minute later, another sharp jab forced Catherine to wince in pain. It was followed by another almost immediately then another, then another until Catherine had no choice but to grab at Wendy’s hand that was oblivious to what was happening with Catherine.
“Stop,” Catherine tried to mutter but it wasn’t loud enough. The stabbing pain in her lower abdomen was causing her to loose her breath.
Wendy finally looked up at Catherine to see a look of panic, fear, and knowing all rolled into one.
The two ladies stared at each other for a brief moment. No words needed to be spoken. Both ladies knew what was about to transpire.
Then, as if on cue, Catherine felt a small trickle run down her thigh, then it hit her knee then her calf before she even could comprehend what was happening.
A small drop of slightly pink colored liquid hit the linoleum floor. Catherine’s eyes widened as Wendy spoke first. “Catherine, you…. You….uh are leaking?” The tech asked with a worried look on her face. The brown eyed woman met still widened blue eyes of Catherine. A look of calm came over Wendy.
“It’s going to be okay,” Wendy began. “We’ll get you to a hospital. It will be okay.” She repeated to try to calm a still speechless Catherine. “Grissom,” Wendy breathed, “I’ll get Grissom. Will you be okay if I get Grissom?” She asked not expecting an answer.
Catherine’s head was now down looking at the small puddle she was leaving on the floor. She managed to nod slightly as a sign for Wendy to get help… and fast because without warning a huge plop of what can only be described as mucus somehow magically fell from between Catherine’s legs landing on the floor with an indescribable sound.
Before leaving to get Grissom, Wendy found the nearest chair. One she grabbed from the closest office and sat Catherine down in it, very slowly and gently as not to hurt or somehow disturb Catherine who both women assumed had indeed gone into labor.
Catherine looked up briefly to see Wendy’s tall lean body flash by her down the hall to where Catherine was originally headed. A small tinge of jealousy filled Catherine. She knew Wendy was very capable and smart and who, was more than likely, to be her replacement when Catherine was out with the baby.
The pains had subsided for the moment and Catherine took in a deep breath. She let her self relax into the ‘sort of’ comfy chair that Wendy retrieved for her. She laughed a little at her ironic situation; in labor, at the lab, without her husband.
She couldn’t dwell on it too much because without warning more sharp, stabbing pains began. Both her hands grasped as her belly as her head fell down again trying to relieve the pain. Thoughts of when she was in labor with Lindsey, some 16 years ago, flooded her. She tried to recall the breathing techniques her labor coach (her sister Nancy) drilled into her.
Breathe, she kept telling herself.
Breathe, breathe. Everything will be okay if you just … breathe. It seemed to work for a moment because the pains subsided once more. Her head remained down as another round of pains, the worst ones yet, rolled across her stomach. Her eyes slammed shut, she forced her head down even farther until she heard a distant voice call out her name.
“Catherine,” his voice filled with alarm. “Catherine, are you okay?” She looked up just in time to see Grissom walking, sort of running, towards her, his arms almost flailing side to side. She couldn’t help but smile to see her long-time friend in such a hurried, intense way.
Grissom’s panicked voice asked his friend, “Are you okay? What can we do for you?”
Before Gil could say anything else, Catherine muttered, “I will be.” She smiled through the stabbing aches still trembling through her belly causing her body to become very still and tight.
~~~~
He had been back in Vegas for quite a few months now, and Tony was
sure he knew where he was going. A back road, on the other side of the I-15, out past all the new houses (which he
swore weren’t there when he lived in Vegas) would take him to the airport avoiding all the traffic on The Strip. But his calculations were wrong, or his friend Dave was. Either way, Tony was lost, lost and a little put off that his personal phone not charged. The one the department issued to him was just where it should be, at the department. So he was lost, stuck on a back road with no phone.
“Great,” He sighed in disgust. “What now?”
With all fuss going on in the house, he forgot his personal phone was not charged. Some might say he should have known better since his wife was 8 months pregnant, but it honestly slipped his mind. Not a comforting thought, while he sat at a stop sign on a poorly marked county road
supposedly on his way to the airport.
He couldn’t have seen it coming, no one could have, but the impact it made was permanent. The car came out of nowhere…..
The crashing sound of glass and metal was so loud it was almost deafening. There literally is no time to react when a car, traveling down the wrong way on a two-lane highway, was coming at you. Swerving was the only option, but in doing so, Tony’s car plummeted into the drainage ditch some 10 feet away. And that was exactly what happened.
His eyes remained shut as conscious though began. All the damage had been done and it only took a split second, or so it felt like. ”
Open your eyes, open your eyes….” He kept muttering to himself. He was willing himself to react hoping upon hope that the worst hadn’t happened. He knew he wasn’t dead he just wanted to feel, feel something, anything to prove that he was alive.
He managed to get out of his car, by some miracle. Tony took a quick scan of his surroundings. He ignored the throb in his head and the nausea that filled his stomach.
While he stood on very wobbly legs, he started to study what was around him. More of his wife’s job as a Crime Scene Investigator than a detective’s, but he couldn’t help it. He was still in shock as to what had actually happened. His legs were unsteady. He was hit by another car on a two lane highway in the desert outside of Vegas. The other car was long gone but the tire tracks it left was sign enough of a hit and run. For a moment he thought he could smell alcohol. A possibly a ‘first instinct’ sort of thought since most traffic accidents involve alcohol.
Tony began to take a step on his shaky legs when he suddenly doubled over in pain. It was a sharp stabbing pain to his stomach. His hand grasped at his stomach as his head leaned into the side of his car. He willed himself to breathe, but his breaths were short as the stabbing pains started and stopped in intervals. It was almost like
he was having labor pains.
“Catherine,” He drew in sharply between breaths.
His mind flashed over to the image of his wife, standing in the lab parking lot waving to him; her belly full of their daughter and a sad look on her face.
The little voice in the back of his head was talking to him, the one he was trying not to hear. It’s not like he didn’t want to listen but he didn’t want to know that Catherine was in labor while he was stuck out in the desert.
“Catherine,” He breathed again knowing she couldn’t hear him. It was more for his peace of mind. He couldn’t ignore it for long; more sharp pains attacked his stomach.
He closed his eyes and took in another deeper, longer breath. He thought he could smell alcohol again. A light whiff of vodka floated through the air. That’s what his wildly overactive imagination was telling him anyway. But the blood that was dripping from his forehead, that was real.
~~~~
“How are you feeling?” A familiar voice asked Catherine. She was sitting up in a hospital bed with an IV in her arm.
“OOOOoooopretty……. good,” Her words slurred together.
“I see they have you on the good stuff already,” Charlotte Ross the old CSI fingerprint tech noticed of Catherine’s behavior.
“Hey, I survived the trip here.” Catherine started a very random conversation. “I don’t know what was worse, Wendy driving. Wendy never drives. The hippy girl still relies on public transportation. Or Gil seething in the back seat.
I watched his jaw tense every time I opened my mouth. He was afraid he’d have to do something, something I don’t know… like deliver a baby or something.” Catherine rattled to the now Ultrasound Tech setting up the machine around Catherine.
“Sounds like Gil. Not wanting to do anything he doesn’t have to, especially when it came to women. I know that first hand. But you know that too I guess.” Charlotte smiled to Catherine who wasn’t really paying much attention to the conversation.
“So dear, “the tech started. “You’ll be going in the delivery room in a little while. Hopefully your husband will be here by then.”
“Wait, my husband?” Catherine giggled. “He’s on his way to Seattle.” She paused trying to find the right words to the comment Charlotte had just spoken, “You know its funny; I’m not surprised that he would miss this. I love him, but I think he’s a little squeamish when it comes to these kinds of things.”
“Well, not according to Grissom. Detective Brass told Grissom that he never made it on the plane. Brass assumed that he got word that you were in labor and he was on his way here.”
The last sentence left Catherine speechless. Her drug clouded mind tried to cling to the words that the tech just uttered.
“Where is he?” Catherine asked quietly not expecting an answer.
Without notice, a group of people, mainly nurses and other hospital staff came in. Quietly and efficiently they maneuvered the bed, unhooked the machines, hooked them back up to something else, manipulated the bed so Catherine was lying down flat and began to roll the bed out of the room and down the hall much to Catherine’s amazement.
A small bit of panic filled her. Her husband was gone, missing, not to be found and she was going to deliver at any time.
“Looks like it was sooner rather than later,” Charlotte called to her friend. “I’ll see you in there,” She winked as the staff continued to roll Catherine down the hall.
It was a standard procedure. Cesareans usually are. The whole procedure was very mellow and low key. The doctor told Catherine exactly what she was going to do. Catherine relaxed her body into the table and closed her eyes. She heard voices in the room as she drifted now and again.
