Title: Putting Down Roots
By: jayceepat
Rating: NC-17 for language and adult content
Warnings: None
Summary: Nick is making changes.
Spoilers: None

After the door bell had rung for the 3rd time, Nick hollered out, "Hey Greggo, quit messing around, make yourself useful and go open the door."

Greg headed for the door, yelling back over his shoulder at Nick, "Now I know why you wanted me over here. You just wanted your own personal doorman." He jerked the door open and let Archie, Bobby and Bobby's partner Steve join the work party currently in progress.

They walked in just in time to hear Nick yell at Greg, "Don't make me come in there. I'm still bigger than you are and I can put you over my knee if I have to."

Greg immediately answered Nick back in a high falsetto that made everyone chuckle even before he answered him back with, "How can you speak of love at a time like this?" The chuckle's turned into laughter especially for those who could see the indignant expression on Nick's face.

Warrick said, "Good God, Bro, It's bad enough we all have to show up and help you paint your house but now we have to hear about your personal kinks too? That's just TMI, too much!"

Sara, Catherine, Wendy and Mandy walked out of the kitchen and glared at everyone within sight. Catherine as ruling matriarch, shook her paint brush at all of them and told them, "A little more work out of all of you and a little less fooling around."

The 3 newcomers asked Nick what he wanted them to do and Nick told them to ask Catherine, she was the boss on this job. Catherine sent Archie to work with Greg and Mandy in the 2nd bath and bedroom and pulled Bobby and Steve in the kitchen to start laying the floor.

Nick shook his head and returned to his current job, up on a ladder texturing the living room ceiling. It was the last one to do in the house and he was thrilled. His neck and shoulders felt like someone was sticking hot needles in them and he was getting a headache from being so close to the ceiling where the air was hotter and less fresh.

He glared at Warrick who was still smiling about the spanking remark and said, "I must have been smoking crack when I asked you all to help me with this."

Warrick groaned dramatically, put his hand up to his forehead (getting a big swatch of primer on his face in the process) and said in a very over done voice, "Oh how much more of this unnecessary information are we going to have to endure. First your sexual fantasies and now your personal vices. It's just too much!'

The whole houseful of people exploded in laughter. Archie, Greg and Bobby all came into the living room to high-five Warrick then went back to their assignments before Cath could yell at them again. She probably wouldn't because she was laughing along with the rest of them.

Poor Nick was trying to decide whether he wanted to kill Warrick or just let the whole thing go over his head when the doorbell rang again. He looked around and did a quick mental head count. Everyone was here except for Grissom who was at a 3 day Seminar in Chicago so he had no idea who was at the door. He was surprised, but happy, to see Lindsey walk into the house.

"Hey Sunshine, what are your doing here?"

Lindsey smiled up at Nick and said, "I had Leann's mom drop me over here so I could help with your new house."

Nick finished the last swipe of texture on the ceiling, picked up the hod and texturing spatula and came down the ladder. Lindsey started to go to him for a hug and he held up his hand and said, "Honey, I would love to hug you but I'm hot and sweaty and you look sweet enough to eat."

Lindsey blushed a little and walked over and put her arms around him. She said, "Thanks, Nicky but these are old clothes and I'd love a hot, sweaty hug from you."

Nick set his stuff on the steps of the ladder and wrapped his arms around the teenager he loved as much his own nieces and hugged her back. She looked up at him and asked, "Nick, why did you decide to buy a house. It's an awful lot of work isn't it?"

Nick thought for a moment. He had always talked to Lindsey like an adult even when she was just 5 or 6 so he wanted to give her an honest answer. He finally said, "You know baby, I turned 40 a little while ago and it made me think about a lot of things."

"Like what?"

"Well, like what I wanted out of life and where I wanted to go in my career and where I wanted to be in 5 or 10 years."

"And you decided a house was it?"

"I decided that it was a start. I want to stay here in Vegas with my friends. I want to advance in my career at the Las Vegas Crime Lab and I need roots to make all that happen. I'm putting down roots."

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Hours later, Nick was policing his new house, picking up trash, making sure all the brushes and rollers were clean and ready for tomorrow and that all the lids were tight on the cans of paint so they wouldn't dry out. It had been a great day, full of fun and laughter. Everyone had worked their butts off and the house showed the results. One more day and it would be ready to install the hardwood floors and then he could move in.

He thought about how blessed he was in these wonderful, crazy, funny people he worked with and how much he cared about all of them. Even Hodges had come over and as it turned out, he was a skilled tile setter. Thanks to him, the back splash in the kitchen and the counters in the two bathrooms were works of art. He was coming back tomorrow to do the final grouting and help with the installation of the granite counters in the kitchen.

The last thing Nick had asked of everyone before they left, was to write down what they thought his master bedroom should look like. He knew the girls would come up with great ideas, after all, his kitchen was fantastic. Catherine had asked him about his favorite colors and then she and the other 3 females had come up with a soft, pale buttery yellow for his kitchen walls, with a paler cream color on his cabinets and had painted the raised panels of the cabinets in a teal green. His backsplash, courtesy of Hodges was glass tiles in shades of the teal, yellow and cream with a rosy color accent that reminded Nick of a tequila sunrise cocktail. The floor was commercial grade linoleum squares in colors that matched the rest of the kitchen, laid in a great random design that the ladies had come up with. Of course, if you asked Nick, he would say his kitchen was yellow, green and red, but it sure was pretty.

He took all the slips of paper home and read through them that night.

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Nicks house warming party was over and everyone said it had been the best party they'd gone to in years. There was music, dancing, food enough to feed an army and games. They all agreed that watching Grissom trying to play Twister with Catherine, Sara, Greg, Warrick and Wendy was better than any casino floor show. Nick was picking up dishes and bringing them out to the kitchen where Greg, who had been pressured into clean up duty since he was off, was loading them into the new dishwasher. After they got through and the house was immaculate again, Nick fixed them both a well deserved margarita and they settled down on the couch to talk about the party and relax.

Greg took a sip of his drink, sighed happily and said, "My God Nick, these are better than any bar drink. Hey, why was your bedroom door closed and locked? Didn't you get it finished? You know we would have all been over here to help you if you had just asked."

Nick looked at Greg for a moment and then said, "Bring your drink and come with me."

He took Greg to his bedroom, unlocked the door and walked into the room. He flipped on the light and then invited Greg into the room.

Greg walked in and almost dropped his drink. He looked around the bedroom and then finished his drink in about 3 swallows. He carefully set the glass down on the dresser and looked around again. Finally, he turned to Nick and said, "It's my idea for a master bedroom; right down to the lamps beside the bed and the colors of the bedding. Why?"

Nick walked over and put his hands on Greg's hips. He was so close that he could see Greg's pulse beating in his neck. He said, "Because when I was thinking about what I wanted for my future, I realized that nothing was really important if I didn't have someone special to share it with. Ever since I met you, I've tried to think of you as a crazy kid brother that I really liked, wanted to take care of and spend time with. It's taken me a long time to admit that my feelings for you are so not brotherly. About the same length of time that it's taken me to admit to myself that I'm not the straightest ruler in the tool box. I know that you're an equal opportunity lover. I've heard you talk about your girl friends and boy friends. I know that for you, it's the person, not the plumbing that turns you on. I'm asking if maybe, I could turn you on?"

Greg, for once, was speechless. When he finally got his breath and his voice back, he said, "That still doesn't explain the bedroom."

Nick smiled and pulled him closer. His hands slid around Greg's body bringing him close to him. He could feel Greg's heart beating against him and he knew his heart was beating in the same fast rhythm against Greg's chest. He said, "I was hoping that when you saw the bedroom, you would like it so much that you would just take me along with it. I'm not expecting you to crawl into bed with me right nohmpff."

Nick never got to finish that sentence. He already had an armful of Greg but now he had a very warm, wet tongue in his mouth. He had arms around his neck and hands that roamed from his hair down his back to his butt and back again. Greg was making happy sounds and trying to map the inside of Nick's mouth so completely that he could go on safari in there blindfolded and never get lost. He was also rubbing his body against Nick's, like a cat and Nick was rapidly losing his ability to think, talk or breathe. Before he completely gave up, he pulled back for a second and asked, "Does this mean you're willing to explore a relationship with me because I'm not interested in a one night quicky."

Greg looked Nick in the face and replied, "Oh believe me Nicky, nothing between us is going to be quick and it's for sure going to take a lot longer than one night. I've got 8 long years of frustration to take out on that gorgeous ass of yours and it just may take me the rest of my life to get even with you."

Nick started walking Greg back to the bed. He began kissing, sucking and licking Greg's throat right over his pulse point. Greg's response let him know that he really, really liked that. Nick hummed contentedly against Greg's throat and said, "Retribution is a real bitch and I think I'm going to love it as much as I love putting down roots!"