Title: Adventures in Babysitting
By: Fran Holland
Pairing: Gil/Nick

Only one more hour and Nick was off for the next 24 hours. He was so looking forward to some down time. He and Gil hadn't had a chance to do anything lately. He was going to make Gil a nice dinner and he was going to pick up a few old Bogart movies on the way home. Gil had to work tonight, but they could still have the late afternoon and evening together.

Nick shook his head to clear the thoughts of being alone with Gil and looked back into the microscope. Nick studied the human hair, one that had been bleached blond, it did have a skin tag on it, so Nick took the evidence out to take to DNA.

Once he had dropped the evidence off, he stuck his head into Gil's office, "Hey, Boss, what's up?"

Gil looked up and smiled. He knew Nick was excited about their evening together, he was too. They hadn't spent any time together in almost two weeks, between work and a lecture series that Gil couldn't get out of, well, let's just say phone sex wasn't as good as the real thing.

"Paperwork, Nicky, paperwork." Gil pointed to the big pile of files on his desk.

"Sounds exciting. See ya around 4:30." Nick turned and headed down the hall.

Gil sat for a few minutes, remembering the phone sex. He had been in a hotel room in Los Angeles and had called Nick just to hear his voice. Nick had been home and before he knew it, the conversation had heated up. They had both wound up masturbating. Hearing Nick's cries as he climaxed was such a sweet sound, but it wasn't nearly as nice as being there to watch Nick's head thrown back, back arched, sweat glistening on the beautiful chest... Damn he needed to get back to work, and he needed to calm down, since his cock was straining uncomfortably inside his pants.

Nick clocked out thirty minutes later and walked out into the sunlight. Another hot day in Vegas, he thought as he got into his truck. His first stop was the grocery store. Nick loved to go up and down every aisle, right to left. He wasn't obsessive/compulsive or anything, but that's just the way he shopped.

He pulled into his driveway at 9:05 and as he got out of the truck, his neighbor, Chris, waved from her front yard.

"Nick, got a minute?" She called, walking towards him.

"Sure." Nick loved his neighbors. Chris and her husband, Tom, were great people. Chris was a fabulous cook and was always trying out new recipes on him. Tom was a fellow Texan and they watched football together sometimes. Nick was always invited to their Super Bowl parties and backyard barbeques. They watched each other's homes, if one of them was out of town. They had recently had a baby, and Chris had become a stay-at-home mom after ten years as a nurse. Nick had even bought the new baby, Jackson, a t-shirt with Texas on it when he was born.

Nick met Chris about half between their homes. "How's Jackson?"

"He's great, in fact, that's why I wanted to talk to you. Actually, I need a huge favor." Chris gave him a sheepish smile.

Nick grinned down at the petite woman, "Anything for you."

"You say that now. Look, if you say no, I'll completely understand. Really." Chris was waving her arms about nervously.

"Chris, you haven't even told me what it is yet."

Tom got us tickets to see Nickelback at the MGM Grand tonight and the girl we normally use as a sitter just had her wisdom teeth removed. I hate to ask, but could you baby-sit Jackson tonight? Tom and I haven't been out on a date since Jackson was born and he really wanted to take me to dinner, you know...."

Nick briefly thought of his evening with Gil, but Tom and Chris were his friends. "Sure. I can baby-sit." After all, how hard could it be to watch a six-month-old baby? He could put him down for a nap and he and Gil could....

"Are you sure, Nick? I really hate to ask. You didn't have any plans, did you?"

"Gil's coming over to watch a movie, but he has to work later tonight, so it's okay." Chris and Tom knew that Nick and Gil were seeing each other. Neither was judgmental and even though their co-workers didn't know, Nick was comfortable with his neighbors knowing about it.

"Oh, no. It's a date night for you two, isn't it?" Chris exclaimed, obviously embarrassed for asking the favor.

"No, no." Nick lied. "We were just going to watch a movie, like I said, Gil has to work tonight.

"Well, if you're sure. Do you want to come over to our house, or would you rather stay at home?" She asked.

"My place, if you don't mind. Gil would probably feel uncomfortable at someone else's house."

"No problem. I'll bring him and all his crap over around 5:00, if that's okay."

"Great. See you then." Nick turned and went to his truck to unload the groceries. After they were unloaded and put away, he went to his room and undressed. He set his alarm for 4:30 and fell asleep almost immediately.

Gil's alarm went off at 4:30 and he got up, showered and dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. He grabbed a pair of khakis and a button down shirt to toss in his car for work later. It didn't take him long to drive over to Nick's.

Nick's alarm buzzed loudly, pulling him out of a crazy dream about Greg dancing in a hula skirt. He knew Sigmund Freud would've had a field day with that one. He showered, shaved and was dressed before the doorbell rang.

Nick opened it to Chris holding Jackson and Tom holding, what appeared to be half their house. "Thanks for doing this, I owe you." Tom said as he walked past Nick and dropped his load of baby paraphernalia on the couch.

"No problem, man." Nick said, making a funny face at Jackson, who gave him a slobbery grin.

"You've got our cell numbers, if anything happens. I've packed three bottles, but you'll only need two. He's due for one at 5:30 and one at 9:30, then he'll sleep until we get home." Chris said handing Nick the baby. Nick gingerly took Jackson and held him up.

"Hey big guy. Wanna beer?" Nick asked the smiling baby. Jackson just gurgled at him.

Nick hugged the baby to him and turned to Tom. "Hey, dude, wanna tell me what all this stuff is for?" Nick nodded his head towards the pile of stuff on the couch.

"Sure. This is his portable playpen, he can sleep in it. It just folds out." Tom moved a few tabs and there was a bright blue cage in Nick's living room. "This is his car seat. Just in case you need to go somewhere. This is his diaper bag; it has his diapers, wipes, bottles and two changes of clothes, plus his sleeper for tonight. This is his baby gym. You just put down this blanket," Tom picked a large yellow blanket, "and put him on his back and this dangles over him like this." Tom demonstrated.

Chris noticed Nick's look of panic. "Nick, don't worry. Tom is making this look harder than it is. You'll be fine. If you have any questions, just call us."

As they were walking out, Tom turned and whispered to Nick, "Fifty bucks is yours, if you don't call."

Nick grinned. "Fifty bucks, huh?"

Nick shut the door with one hand and took Jackson back into the living room. "So, little dude, what do you want to do first? Watch a dirty movie? Look at a Playboy? Shot of Tequila?" Jackson just grinned and patted Nick's face with his chubby hands.

Nick had just gotten Jackson on the floor with his playgym when Gil knocked at the door. "Come on in." Nick called, not wanting to get off the floor.

Gil opened the door and walked in, "God, I've missed you..." Gil's words trailed off as he spotted the baby and all the baby stuff.

"I kinda got drafted into babysitting duty for my neighbors." Nick grinned sheepishly. "But he's really young, so he'll be sleeping most of the time."

"Nick, do you know anything about babies?" Gil asked, moving closer and staring down at the baby like it was a new type of insect.

"No, but how hard can it be? You just feed them, and then they sleep." Nick said. He held out a hand, so Gil could pull him to his feet. He wrapped his arms around Gil and gave him a lingering kiss.

"Now, what were you saying about missing me?" Nick whispered.

"Ummm, do you know how long it's been since we've...?" Gil nibbled at Nick's neck.

"Fifteen days, six hours and..." Nick glanced at the clock on his DVD player, "eighteen minutes."

"Too long." Gil's hands moved over Nick's muscular ass.

Both men sprang apart as Jackson let out a howl. "Shit!" Gil exclaimed.

"What the fuck?" Nick stumbled backwards and nearly fell into the portable playpen. Nick suddenly remembered that there was an infant on his floor. He reached down and picked up the crying baby.

"Hey, little dude, what's going on?" Nick swung the baby up in the air. When that didn't stop the crying, he hugged him close and patted his back. That didn't seem to work either.

"Do you think it's hungry?" Gil offered.

"He, not an it. Jesus, Gil." Nick gave his lover an irritated look.

"Sorry, how was I to know?" Gil looked chagrinned. "Maybe he is hungry."

Looking up at the clock, Nick said, "He's supposed to have a bottle at 5:30."

"So, give him a bottle." Gil sat down on the couch to watch the proceedings. Seeing Nick with a baby in his arms was both heartwarming and disturbing. A part of him wanted a long future with Nick, they could even adopt. The sane part of him knew that his bi-sexual lover would most likely find a nice girl to marry one day and have a child of his own.

"Here hold him, while I find his bottle." Nick plopped the baby into Gil's lap. Startled, Gil held the baby like he had just been given a rattlesnake. Jackson's cries turned into a pathetic whimper.

Nick rummaged around in the huge diaper bag until he found the insulated pocket that held three bottles of milk. "This stuff looks sour. Maybe it should be in the fridge." He unscrewed the nipple off of one and smelled it. "God, that's gross. I think it's gone bad."

"Nick, that's formula, it's supposed to smell and look that way." Gil said, his eyes never leaving the little creature on his lap. Jackson looked up at Gil and smiled. Gil smiled back and bounced him a little on his knee. Jackson clapped his hands.

"He likes me. Nick, he likes me." Gil said with delight.

"Good, then you can give him his bottle. I don't want him to associate cool Uncle Nick with that smelly shit that he's gotta drink." Nick held the bottle out to Gil. Gil looked up at Nick.

"Oh, no. You're the one who volunteered for babysitting duty. I just came over for dinner and to get laid." Gil said sanctimoniously.

"I've got to start dinner and if you want to get laid tonight, you'd better start feeding him." Nick held out the bottle again. This time Gil snatched it from him.

"I've never known you to be cruel, Nicky." Gil said, pursing his lips and giving Nick the 'Grissom look'.

"You gotta do what ya gotta do." Nick turned, "I'll be in the kitchen."

Since Nick's house had an open floor plan, Nick could see Gil from the kitchen. He watched as he prepared the steaks and tossed the salad. Gil held the baby close with one hand, and with the other he held the bottle. Nick couldn't quite make out what Gil was whispering to the infant.

"Blow flies lay eggs on dead animals, animal excrement and decaying human garbage. They can lay as many as 100-200 eggs and the eggs hatch within a day. Larvae feed from 3-10 days then crawl away from the feeding site to pupate in a drier location. Adults emerge 5-10 days later and live from two to five weeks. They are highly reproductive but have a very short life cycle." Gil whispered to the small child in his arms. Jackson's eyes were wide with wonderment and he blew milk bubbles to show his pleasure.

Once Nick had set the table and served up the meal, he called out, "Dinner's ready."

"Shhhh, he's asleep." Gil whispered.

"Cool, let's put him in his sleepy thing." Nick said softly.

"His what?" Gil looked at him blankly.

"This thing." Nick pointed to the playpen.

"Oh, okay." Gil stood carefully and stepped over to the playpen. He leaned down and laid the baby down.

"Should he be on his back or stomach?" Nick asked.

"Back, because of SIDS...or is it the stomach?" Gil looked perplexed.

"Greaaat." Nick said sardonically. "Now what'll we do?"

"Nick, we're right in the room. Nothing's going to happen." Gil grabbed Nick's hand and pulled him towards the table. They talked about work while they ate, Nick shared a story about his childhood. Gil pushed his plate back first. "That was great, Nicky."

"Thanks." Nick stood up and picked up his plate. Gil followed him in the kitchen and it didn't take long for them to clean up.

Nick pushed Gil up against the kitchen counter and leaned in for a kiss. Hands roamed, tongues entwined and Nick whispered, "Movie or sex?"

Gil chuckled. "Movie."

"My ass." Nick countered.

"Even better." Gil bit down on Nick's neck and pinched one of Nick's nipples through his tight t-shirt.

"Bedroom, now, or I'm going to come in my jeans." Nick moaned.

The two men turned and had just gotten to Nick's bedroom door, when Jackson began crying. Nick groaned in frustration. Gil closed his eyes and tried to ignore his throbbing erection.

Nick and Gil went back into the living room and Nick picked up the crying infant. "Look, Jackson, I'm going to talk to you man to man. There's this subject called the birds and the bees. And you my little friend are being a buzzkill."

Gil snorted in laughter. "Maybe if you rocked him or something, he'd go back to sleep."

Nick sat on the couch and rocked back and forth. Jackson cried louder. "Any other suggestions?"

"Scotch." Gil said innocently.

"Very funny." Nick said, as he made funny faces at the unhappy baby.

"Diaper?" Gil asked.

"What?" Nick's head shot up.

"Maybe he needs to be changed." Gil said.

"Changed into what." Nick asked.

"Nick, sometimes you act so, so, blond." Gil teased.

"That's low. You will pay dearly for that one." Nick exclaimed hotly.

Gil went over to the diaper bag and peered into it. He gingerly reached in and pulled out a disposable diaper. "I think this is a diaper."

"Even I knew that." Nick said as he stood and laid the now screaming baby on the blanket. He unsnapped the crotch of the one-piece outfit and made a horrible face. "Gross, this is so fucking gross."

"What?" Gil leaned over to investigate and pulled back sharply. "Jesus, how does someone that small stink that bad."

"Fuck if I know. God, do you think something's wrong with him?" Nick looked up.

"How should I know?" Gil continued to step backwards away from Nick and the horrible smell.

"You've got the PhD." Nick glared at him.

"Not in baby shit." Gil suddenly burst out laughing. "I really can't wait to see this."

"Asshole." Nick muttered as he drug the diaper bag off the couch and reached in for the baby wipes. He undid the tapes on the sides of the diaper and slowly folded the front down. "Eck. Look at this color, is this normal?"

Gil peered over Nick's shoulder, "Maybe that's where the term 'baby shit green' comes from."

"Cute." It took Nick three diapers and twenty of the baby wipes to clean and diaper Jackson. Jackson was sucking on his fist and kicking his legs like he was riding a bicycle. After that, the two men sat on the floor and took turns squeezing the squeaky stuffed monkey to make the baby laugh. Gil glanced at his watch.

"Nicky?"

Nick looked up from the laughing baby, "Yeah?"

"I've got to go." Gil looked sad and Nick felt really bad for agreeing to keep Jackson for his friends, and then he felt bad for feeling bad about it.

"I'm sorry." Nick said, so forlornly that Gil leaned over and brushed his cheeks with his lips.

"Come hell or high water, I'm getting off early tomorrow and I'm coming over here."

"Promise." Nick smiled up into Gil's sky blue eyes.

"Promise." Gil stood and slipped on the shoes he had pulled off before they started playing with the baby.

Nick stood up and picked up the baby. They walked Gil to the door. Gil kissed Nick goodbye and then leaned over and gave Jackson a peck on his forehead. Jackson cooed and reached out to Gil.

"Bye, Nicky."

"Bye." Nick closed the door with his foot and turned. Jackson whimpered and stared at the closed door.

"I know, I know..." Nick patted the baby on his back. "I'll miss him too."

THE END