Title: Lindsey's Christmas Wish
Author: Anita
Rating: G
A/N: For the December challenge. I'm sharing this day with Angie. Thank you Angie!
The Christmas holidays had finally come for schoolchildren in Las Vegas. Catherine Willows was taking her daughter Lindsey's lunch box out of her backpack when she spotted a smudged, slightly creased paper sticking up out of a folder. She could only see the title, which read "My Christmas Wish – rough draft."
Catherine wondered what Lindsey might be wishing for. She knew the presents on her daughter's wish list; Lindsey had been talking about them since September. Was this more of the same? Curiosity got the better of her, and she pulled the paper out to read it.
My Christmas Wish – rough draft
By Lindsey Willows
Christmas is a very special time of year. For Christians, it is the time we celebrate the birth of Jesus. It's also the time for Santa and gifts. Little kids write letters to tell Santa what they wish for. I'm too old for that now, but I do have a Christmas wish. I am wishing for a new dad.
My real dad died almost two years ago. I was really mad at Uncle Gil and his CSI's because they didn't know who did it. It is their job to find out who did it, but they couldn't. I wouldn't speak to Uncle Gil for a long time. But since he and my mom have been doing things together, I have seen him more often and I'm not mad anymore.
I like Uncle Gil. He makes my mom smile. She didn't smile very much for a while and it made me sad. Now she's happy more, and I'm happy too. Sometimes I think it would be good if we were a family. Then maybe she would be happy all the time.
So, for Christmas this year I am not wishing for makeup or a CD player or even a boyfriend. I wish for Uncle Gil to be my new dad.
Catherine was dazed when she finished reading. She shook her head, wondering if she had imagined it. Just for good measure, she read it a second time. It was true – Lindsey really did want her mom to marry Gil!
She shook her head and smiled ruefully. Unfortunately, it takes two to tango and two to get married. Catherine had seen no sign that Gil was interested in her that way. Sure, they had fun together. They even enjoyed making out on the couch every now and then. But he didn't seem disposed to pursue the matter further, and Catherine didn't want to push him. She knew he would pull away if she tried. In fact he –
"Mom?" asked a sleepy voice behind her.
Catherine quickly crumpled the paper into a ball and stuffed it in the pocket of her jeans, then began to zip the backpack. "Yes, dear?"
"What are you doing?"
Catherine turned around to smile at Lindsey. "Just taking out your lunchbox. You don't want it to stink up your backpack, do you?
Lindsey giggled. "No, I guess not. Good night, mom." She started to turn away, but hesitated. "Mom?"
"Yes?"
"You weren't looking at my papers, were you?"
Catherine laughed, trying to appear nonchalant. "Why, did you fail something?"
"Of course not. I was just wondering." She yawned, then headed down the hall to her room.
Catherine sighed again. "Close one," she said to herself.
Two hours later she arrived at the lab, still dressed in her jeans along with a long-sleeved V-neck sweater. Most of the time she wore dress slacks, but occasionally she allowed herself a casual evening.
"Hi Warrick, Nick," she said, smiling as she entered the break room. "Anything going on?"
"Nah, just the usual," Warrick replied, handing her a folder. "Griss wants you to study this old case file. Greg and I've got a DB at the Hard Rock. He thinks they're related."
"Hmmm." She opened the folder. "Where is Grissom?" she asked, trying not to appear too interested.
Warrick knew better, but decided to humor her. "He's doing a bug study for a decomp found near I-15."
"And Sara and I are working a robbery at the mall," Nick put in. "You know those Christmas shoppers! See you guys later."
Catherine nodded as he left, then sat down beside Warrick, who was organizing his kit for the night. Feeling a slight discomfort against her left hip, she wiggled a little, then remembered that Lindsey's paper was still in her pocket. Standing, she extracted it and set it on the table beside the folder.
"What's that?" Warrick asked curiously.
"Oh, nothing. A paper Lindsey wrote."
"Why are you blushing about a school paper?"
"I'm not blushing!" she protested loudly, one hand reaching up to touch her face. The cheek was hot. She was blushing.
"Yes you are." Warrick snaked an arm across the table and grabbed the paper before she could stop him.
"Warrick Brown! Give me that!"
He grinned, rising from the table. "No." He opened it and began to read.
Catherine groaned and resigned herself to the inevitable.
"What's all that shouting?" The voice sounded irritated.
They both looked up to see Grissom standing in the doorway.
"Oh – er – nothing, Gil," Catherine replied. She mentally begged Warrick to agree with her.
"Warrick?"
The darker-skinned man glanced at Catherine's pleading eyes. He had seen enough of the paper to know why she was blushing. "Yeah, that's right. We were just messing around."
Catherine let out her breath with relief.
Grissom studied the two for a moment, quite aware that something more was going on. He wasn't really sure he wanted to know what it was, though.
"All right," he said finally. "Just keep it down, okay?"
Catherine and Warrick nodded, and the supervisor left.
"Thanks, Warrick," Catherine said softly.
"Sure. So when are you planning to tell him?"
"Tell him what?"
Warrick gestured at the paper. "This."
"Never! And you'd better not breathe a word of it either, or I'll –"
He grinned at her, eyes teasing. "Or you'll what?"
"—or I'll tell Grissom I'm sleeping with you!"
"No way. You wouldn't."
"Want to test me?" she asked, her eyes challenging.
He debated whether or not to take her up on it, thinking about what Grissom would probably do to him. He decided it was time to back down – at least for now. "Okay, you win. I won't tell him."
"Smart boy."
"Yeah. Want me to throw this away for you?"
"Go ahead. Now, I'm going to get back to my case file, and don't you have a DB?"
Two hours later Warrick returned to the break room. Seeing that Catherine was no longer around, he checked the trash can for the paper, and was surprised to see it was actually still there. He'd thought she might have retrieved it just in case, but she hadn't.
He smoothed out the paper and read it again before folding it neatly and placing it in his locker. He needed time to think.
Shift was over, but Warrick was just completing his report on the Hard Rock case. He stood up to take it out of the printer but was interrupted.
"Warrick? Where's my report?" Grissom still sounded irritable. Maybe the bugs weren't cooperating.
"Be right there. Printing it now." He turned to ensure that the supervisor had left, then stapled together the pages of his report – and a little something extra.
Grissom was sitting at his desk, rubbing his eyes. He had been working for eighteen hours straight and really wanted to get some sleep, but he had to finish the experiment first. The lab depended on his knowledge of entomology to solve certain cases, so he couldn't just delegate it to someone else.
Warrick entered his office and laid a set of papers on the desk. "My report. Have a good day, Griss." With that he was gone.
Glad to have something new to occupy his mind, Grissom picked up the report and began to peruse it. When he had finished, he realized that there was still one more page. The last page was lined paper that appeared to have been torn out of a notebook. The many creases in it indicated it had seen better days. Grissom wasn't sure why it was attached to Warrick's report, but he recognized the author's name and began to read.
Seven days later – Christmas Eve
Willows home
Catherine wiped the moisture from her forehead for the tenth time and glanced at the timer on the oven. She was ready for the gingerbread to be done – it was freakin' hot in the kitchen. She resisted the urge to open the oven door and check it, turning on the light instead to peer at it through the glass window.
Making a gingerbread house was a Christmas Eve tradition for Catherine and Lindsey; they had been doing it since Linds was old enough to kneel on a stool and place candies in the white frosting. The continuity had helped them get through several rough Christmases, including the first Christmas after Eddie died.
"That looks done," Catherine murmured approvingly, opening the oven door with a potholder.
Just then the doorbell rang.
"Linds! Can you get that?" she called as she pulled out the cookie sheet.
Nothing happened, then the bell rang again. "Linds!" Catherine shouted, a bit annoyed. "Get the door!"
She saw a flash in the corner of her eye as Lindsey sprinted to the front of the house. Then she heard Lindsey's laugh. "Hey, Uncle Gil, what are you doing here?"
Catherine straightened, surprised. She couldn't hear Grissom's reply. Wiping her hands on her apron, she moved to the door to greet him.
Lindsey was hanging up Grissom's coat as Catherine approached. "Look, Mom, Uncle Gil's here!" she exclaimed, obviously delighted.
"I didn't know you were coming."
"Surprise," he said quietly.
"Uh… would you like to have dinner with us? We're just having a light meal while the gingerbread cools, then we're going to build the house and decorate it."
"Gingerbread?"
"Yes, it's a tradition." She hesitated, then continued. "Would you like to help?"
"Of course. That is, if Lindsey doesn't mind."
He glanced at the girl's retreating figure. "I don't mind!" she called, without turning around.
"Well, that's it then." Catherine turned and headed for the kitchen. "Coming?"
His eyes gently appraised her. He had never guessed she'd look so beautiful in an apron.
"Sure."
Dinner was sandwiches and soup and giggles from Lindsey. Catherine had not seen her daughter so happy in a long time. She smiled to herself, knowing the reason for Lindsey's happiness, but the smile was also sad because she knew the Christmas wish would never come true.
Grissom helped her clear the table, then they gathered their materials and settled down to build the gingerbread house.
He was surprisingly helpful, coming up with novel solutions to some of Lindsey's design difficulties. However, he did insist on adding his own touches -- an ant hill here, butterflies there, and a bee hive attached to the back of the house. Never mind the fact that insects don't usually appear in the snow. Grissom wanted the house to be his, too. To him, it was symbolic of something much more important.
When it was finished, they settled in on the couch in front of the crackling fireplace, Grissom's arms around his two favorite females. They talked of inconsequential things until Lindsey began to yawn. "I think it's time that someone went to bed," Catherine said with a smile.
"Oh, all right," Lindsey grumbled, standing up.
"Wait." Grissom fished in his pocket until he found a small box. "I want to give you two your Christmas presents before you go to bed."
Lindsey sat back down, her eyes widening when she saw the box. Was it really going to happen? Excitement filled her heart as she gazed at Grissom expectantly.
Catherine was unconsciously holding her breath, watching as he turned to Lindsey and opened the box.
Nestled inside were two identical diamond rings, one slightly smaller than the other. Lindsey squealed with delight, unable to wait for Gil to speak his piece. "Oh!" she breathed, clapping her hands, "does this mean…."
"Yes," he replied, amused. "Lindsey, I would like to marry your mother. Would you be my stepdaughter?"
"Sure!" she agreed, reaching for the smaller ring. "This is great, Uncle Gil! My friends will be so jealous!" Sliding it onto her finger, she turned to Catherine. "Your turn, Mom. And you'd better say yes!"
Catherine laughed and extended her left hand to Gil. "Yes!" she said, before he had a chance to speak.
"You haven't even heard the question."
"Yes I have. At least, if the question isn't 'will you marry me?' you're going to catch it!"
She watched breathlessly as he took out the ring and slipped it onto her third finger. Then he started to embrace her.
"Stop!" Lindsey said, rolling her eyes. "If you're going to do that mushy stuff, at least let me leave, ok?"
"You'll have to get used to it," Grissom teased. "You're going to be seeing a lot of it."
"Yeah, but I don't have to watch, do I?" She stood up and headed for the hallway. "Good night! And thanks, Uncle Gil! You made my Christmas wish come true!"
He watched until she disappeared into her room, then turned back to Catherine. "Now where were we?"
"You were going to make my Christmas wish come true." Her blue eyes were shining as she smiled shyly at him.
"Oh. Yes." He kissed her long and slow, the yearning evident in his eyes.
"Merry Christmas, Cath."
"Merry Christmas, Gil."
Finis