Disclaimer: I own nothing of CSI

Day Shift

"So are you looking forward to moving to day shift for a week?" Jackie asked Nick.

"Yeah, I guess, I'll miss the gang but it's only for a week so I can handle it." He replied.

Jackie was happy about his move to a new shift, even if it was just temporary, she wished he could work with his same team but on day shift every day, even if he did make a little more money on the grave shift, it would be nice to have him work regular work hours, she missed him at night, she'd gotten used to sleeping alone over the years but she still didn't like it.

The day shift was down two CSI'S because one was on vacation and one was presenting evidence in a murder trial in LA so Ecklie asked Nick if he'd be willing to switch for a week and he'd agreed.

Nick glanced at the clock.

"Alright hon, I better go, I love you." He said as he stood up and headed for the door.

"Stay safe, I love you too."

When he got to the lab he met the dayshift supervisor and then the assignments were handed out for the day.

Nick got the case of a woman found dead in an alleyway in a shady part of town and his partner for the case was a woman he'd never met before named Anna.

"Hi Anna, I'm Nick Stokes from the grave shift." Nick said as he extended his hand.

"Hi Nick, It's nice to meet you, thanks for helping us out for a week."

"No problem." Nick assured her.

Anna actually reminded him a little of Jackie, A friendly smile, same hair color and green eyes, although Jackie's were a darker shade and Anna was taller than Jackie, of course that wasn't hard, most people were taller than Jackie, even Jackie's twin sister was a smidge taller which somewhat irritated Jackie.

Besides her resemblance to Jackie Nick noticed something else about Anna, she was very pregnant.

"Should we go?" Anna asked.

"Yep, we better." He answered.

They walked to the parking garage and Nick opened her car door.

She struggled to get in and Nick instinctively reached to help her and then pulled back.

She might not like that, we're practically strangers. He thought to himself.

"Would you like some help?" He asked.

"No, I've got it." She said sounding frustrated.

She finally managed to get in the car.

Nick walked around to the driver's side and got in.

At the scene Anna spotted some fibers and she reached down with her tweezers and tried to pick it up but she couldn't get it thanks to her baby bump.

"Would you like me to get it?" Nick asked.

"I've got it." She snapped.

She gave it one more try and then she literally fell over, luckily she landed on her behind.

Nick gasped and raced to help her up.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Fine." She mumbled.

"Are you sure?"

She shook her head.

"You might have to get the fiber though." She mumbled.

"No problem." He said as he got his tweezers, picked up the fiber and dropped it into an evidence bag.

Anna couldn't help but feel somewhat jealous of how easy he made that look.

"Maybe you should take a break, I've got cool bottles of water in the truck, why don't I grab one for you and you can sit on that bench over there for a bit?" Nick offered as he nodded towards a bench about 100 yards away from their scene.

"I don't need to sit down, I'm fine." She snapped.

Nick gave up and from then on they worked in silence except when talking was absolutely necessary.

The only good thing to come of it was that they solved their case.

When he got home that night Nick was bombarded by the kids.

After saying hi to each of them he wandered into the kitchen where he found Jackie slicing carrots and celery for the stew she was making.

"There's my handsome dayshift worker, how was your day?" She asked as she offered him a smile.

"Oops." She added as a piece of carrot slid off the counter and landed on the floor.

Luckily for her Skittles was right next to her waiting for her to drop something and hurriedly ate the carrot.

"Thank you Skittles." She mumbled.

Jackie turned and gave Nick a smile.

"So how was it?" She asked him again.

"Well, I'm not really sure." He said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well we solved our case, but the other CSI I worked with was really crabby."

"How so?"

"She's pregnant and I kept trying to help her and she just got all pissed off all day."

"How did you try to help her?"

"You know, I tried to offer to help her get in the car, or grab evidence on the ground that she was struggling to grab, or I recommended she take a break, I was only trying to be nice."

"Honey, can I tell you something?" Jackie asked tentatively.

"Sure."

"Oh, never mind, I'll just come off as a bitch." She said before she turned her attention back to chopping carrots.

"Jacks, come on, just tell me."

"Well, ok. I think that you are so incredibly sweet and supportive when I'm pregnant, well you are all the time but even more so when I am, and I am so grateful, and I love you so much for it, but honey, sometimes you tend to over help sometimes."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, sometimes you want to help too much, and it gets a little frustrating. Can I give you an example?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Ok, I don't remember which baby it was but I remember we had a Mother's Day barbecue, remember when your parents came down for it?"

"Yeah. I remember that."

"Ok, I remember I was just trying to put napkins in the napkin holder and you insisted on doing it."

"I was only trying to help."

"I know that, but I'm guessing that's what happened at work today and she just got a little annoyed."

"I didn't mean to come off as an arrogant ass, implying she couldn't do anything and I could do it all, I was truly only trying to be nice."

"I know that because I know how you are, but she doesn't know you. My advice to you would be if you work with her tomorrow, don't offer to help her unless she asks you for help, I'm sure if she honestly can't do something, she'll ask for help." Jackie told him with a smile.

"That's good advice, I'll keep that in mind, thank you." He told her as he leaned over and kissed her head.

"Do I have time to shower before dinner, our case was outside today and so I sweated a ton."

"Yeah, it won't be ready for a while." She replied.

"Ok, I'm going to hop in the shower then." He said.

He looked over at Skittles and couldn't help but laugh.

"I think Skittles really wants you to drop another carrot."

"I'm sure she does." Jackie agreed as she too chuckled.

Later that night after the kids had been put to bed Jackie lay in bed reading a magazine and Nick was watching TV.

"Nicky?"

"Hmm?"

"Did I hurt your feelings today when I told you all that stuff about you being a little over helpful when I'm pregnant? If I did I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to sound like I don't appreciate everything you do for me, I really, really do." She said as she gently touched his arm.

"No, you didn't hurt my feelings." He told her honestly.

"You're sure?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Because even though you are at times a pain in my ass, I really do love you more than you'll ever know." She added with a huge, playful smirk.

He burst out laughing.

Jackie then got back to reading her magazine.

"Hey Jacks?" Nick said a couple minutes later.

"Yes?"

"I kind of like working days, know why?"

"Why's that?" She asked.

"Because that way I'm home at night to do this." He said as he grabbed her and pressed his lips to hers.

I love it when you work days too, for the same reason.. Jackie thought to herself.

Nick loved Jackie, and he was glad they had the type of marriage where they could discuss things with one another and Jackie had given him some great advice, he couldn't wait to have another chance at working with Anna tomorrow.

TBC…

*Could I ask a favor to a couple of you (or more) I have a story called Jasmine the Thief, it's an older story where Jasmine was just really little but for whatever reason it got zero reviews. Would you guys mind changing that? Thanks so much!