who's gonna write me this story?


You know, the one where Nicky & his crazy feminine energy becomes Cassie's new mommy?

And it's supposed to be just temporary, right, while they get in touch with her extended family. But Nick really flings himself into it, because of course he's still pretty freaked out from that Nick-in-a-box thing, and kind of lonely, and, well, *Nick.* He's making her giant breakfasts when he gets home from work and fixing up a little room for her, which she won't sleep in because she doesn't want to be by herself, so they end up every night (that she's not sharing the Willows' babysitter) with Nick sitting up all night on the couch and she's all wormed up against him with her arms around his waist asleep. And Gris comes back and he's all like, "I leave for a week and you let Nicky adopt a vic?" and Nicky's all, "TEMPORARILY!" and yet he's totally attached to her, and he's meeting with her teachers and her shrink and acting like her new mommy. And Catherine thinks it's about time and Warrick doesn't think DFACS (what's the Nevada equiv?) is going to let him keep her, so he's kind of working on Lisa to consider being foster parents, them being all wedded-couple and her a doctor and all that.

And Greg is somehow...kind of upset about the whole thing, although he knows he's being a dick so he can't say so. Because he and Nick have totally broken up, and that's fine, it was a mutual thing, but suddenly Nick is completely invested in someone else, and is Greg such an asshat that he could be jealous of a little girl who witnessed her family's murder? Kind of, yes, and he has the appropriate shame, but STILL. They're all domestic, with the breakfast and the shopping and adoring each other, and he never realized until now that he was kind of in the back of his mind counting on getting back together with Nick when he was ready and had his career better squared away and everything. And maybe they would have had a family or something! It could happen! But not anymore, because Nick already has a family, and she doesn't give a damn about Greg, but she does kind of like Archie -- Archie! Who is totally not even Nick's *boyfriend,* it's just a fuckbuddy thing! And it's ridiculous how much Greg is obsessing when it's got nothing to do with him, but...it's got nothing to do with him, and he's not okay with that.

Meanwhile, of course, DFACS is *not* so keen on this arrangement, but they can't get any of the family's screwed-up relatives to take her. Nick wants to adopt her, but they gently explain that, you know, single guys don't normally get to take strange little girls home and keep them, and Nick's wondering if it would help his case or not if he said he was totally gay, when all of a sudden Sara's like "Me! I'm his fiancee!" Because Sara's not sure if this is a terribly good idea or not, but she's SURE that foster care sucks and there is no way she's going to stand around and lie to brokenhearted Nicky about how everything'll turn out just fine as they re-traumatize Cassie by prying her out of Nick's house.

And then some other stuff happens, and maybe Nick's parents show up and are wise. And Nick has healing, and possibly Sara has some healing, and Greg comes back and admits that okay, he was a moron when he said he wanted to break up, and they have some heart-wrenching first-time-since-nearly-died sex, and, and. Yes.