A/N: Who writes an epilogue to an epilogue? Apparently that would be me. Chauncey (MSCSIFANGSR) was so kind to allow me my eccentricities and said it was okay to write this continuation. I will repeat that if you haven't read her story "Remembering the Good Ole Days" you will be highly confused (besides it's no hardship to read a good story, right? So go read it if you haven't)! Also I will warn you that there might be a CD in this story.
A/N2: Thanks to Chauncey and Becky (BeckyCSI) for reading through/the beta-ing of this.
Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of CSI. Further, the characters of Billy and Jill are Chauncey's creation.
"Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust…" the preacher's voice trailed off as he recited the sacred words.
Billy watched as his father was being laid to rest. The day was cold and gloomy, suitable only for such a sad day in his life.
His father had died, mercifully in his sleep, while holding a picture of his wife, clutched to his heart. On his deathbed face, he wore a smile as if he knew he was about to meet Sara again, and this time it would be for forever.
As the ceremony drew to a close, friends and family gathered around to pay their respects. Many people had come to say their goodbye to Dr. Gilbert Grissom. His father had been loved.
All the familiar words of comfort floated through the crowds.
"I'm so sorry for your loss…"
"If there's anything that I can do…"
Then there were the words that spoke of his father's character.
"He was a great man…"
"…so smart, so compassionate…"
"I respected him…"
"I'll never forget how he helped me…"
"…he will be greatly missed…"
The one phrase –with all of its variants –that was most spoken offered the most comfort to him.
"He's with your mother now."
With all his heart, Billy believed that right now in Heaven his parents were having one heck of a reunion party.
As the crowd thinned and slowly dispersed, Billy turned to search for one face. Smiling as he found it, he reached out his hand to beckon the person forward.
Placing her hand in his, Jill Dillard-Grissom asked, "Are you okay?"
He leaned forward to kiss her, his wife of nearly three years. "I think so. It helps that I have you here with me. Are you ready to leave?"
"Would you mind if I had a few minutes alone with him?" she asked, looking around to see that the crowd of people had completely disappeared.
Understanding his wife's need, he replied, "Sure, honey," as he bent to pick up their daughter. "I'll take this one with me," he said as he tickled their daughter, causing her to squeal in delight, as he walked away.
She watched her husband carry their daughter toward their vehicle. Smiling slightly, she turned back to face the graves. Grissom was buried next to his wife.
They had named their daughter, Ashlee Sara Grissom, in honor of a woman she had never known but would have given almost anything to have gotten to meet. First, she addressed the grave where Sara was laid to rest. She believed that Sara could somehow hear her. "Hi. It's me again, Jill." This wasn't the first time that she had visited Sara's grave. She had come many times before with Billy and had accompanied Grissom a few times as well.
Continuing, she said, "I'm by myself today. I wanted to tell you that I would love to have had the opportunity to get to know you. In a way, I sort of feel like I already know you, and I do hope that we would have become good friends. It's kind of funny to realize how your entire life can change with a simple question. Actually maybe you can understand that. I had asked the guy who is lying beside you now, 'How did you meet your wife?' and after that moment my life hasn't been quite the same."
Turning to face Grissom's grave, she said, "I never expected to fall in love at thirty-four, much less with a man fifty-five years my senior. You had a habit of making younger women fall at your feet, didn't you?" she asked, smiling in memory of him.
"Yeah, I fell in love with you at some point during the recounting of your life story. That didn't stop me from wanting to shake you and yell 'How could you have been that dense?' at various intervals when you were telling me about the first few years of Sara coming to Vegas. I was beginning to seriously doubt that doctorate degree you had since you acted so stupid. You wised up though and took your head out from under the microscope. And I'm forever grateful that you did. If you hadn't figured things out with Sara, then Billy would never have been born. Billy is so much like you, Grissom, and soon he had me falling in love with him, too. It is the best thing that has ever happened in my life. Thank you both for the gift of your son."
Pausing to wipe away a few tears that had fallen, she began again. "Grissom, I know that right now you are with your wife. Although I miss you terribly, it offers me great comfort to know that you are right back where you belong –in the arms of your one true love."
With one last look and a whispered prayer, Jill turned to leave. She saw Billy watching her several yards away with their daughter in his arms. When Ashlee noticed her, she shouted, "Mommy! Mommy!"
Rejoining her family, she kissed Billy on the lips and held out her arms to take their daughter. As she walked away with their daughter in her arms and Billy's arm around her as they headed toward their future together, she thought, "I'm not ready to say goodbye either."
FIN
A/N3: I know I can't believe I just killed Grissom. I really am not a CD/angst type of writer. Despite that after reading Chauncey's story and her epilogue, I felt that there were two "loose ends" that I wanted to tie up. First, I wanted to see Grissom's matchmaking skills pay off in a marriage. Second, I wanted (no, I NEEDED) to reunite Grissom and Sara. So that's what I did. I do hope that although this is a sad piece that you liked it.