The Wedding March

Chapter One - Have You Met Mr and Mrs Grissom?

Sara tapped her foot impatiently and checked the clock for the hundredth time in the last ten minutes. He had landed almost half an hour ago and she had still heard nothing. She had swallowed the panic that had almost consumed her earlier. She refused to let herself believe or think that something was wrong. There had to be a logical explanation as to why he had not called her yet. The flight could have been delayed, the plane may have had to stop or something. There were a hundred reasons why he could have neglected to call her and there was no solid reason for her to start to panic. At least that's what she told herself anyway. She had sent Brass to pick him up, not wanting the rest of the team to get onto the course of the surprise. The last thing that she needed was for it to be ruined for them.

"Sara, seriously, what is up with you today?"

Catherine's voice jolted her from her thoughts. Catherine had her arms over her chest and was eyeing her suspiciously. Sara forced a smile and halted the nervous bopping of her foot.

"Nothing. I'm fine"

She watched as Catherine shared a look with Nick, who just shrugged his shoulders before returning to his pizza. Sara waited for Catherine's attention to move onto something else before checking the clock again and then pulling her phone from her pocket and checking that. Her heart almost leapt from her chest when the phone started chirping in her hand. She quickly got up from the seat and slipped from the room before checking the screen to see who was calling. She smiled to herself as she read the name on the screen.

"Hey Gil"

"I'm sorry I didn't call earlier Sweetie but there was a delay in my flight."

"Yeah I figured. So are you on your way?"

"Yup we are. We are in fact we are almost there. Did you want to meet me out front?"

"Nah, just come into the staff room. It's quiet at the moment and the whole team is in there"

"Ok. I can't wait to see them. And you. I've missed you"

"Me too."

"I'll see you soon. I love you"

"Love you too"

Sara hung up the phone and slipped it back in her pocket, her heart pounding hard in her chest. She hadn't seen Grissom in over a month. She had been flying back and forth to see him when she could but there was too much to do and too much to consider. Grissom couldn't do the travelling in between because of his tenor at the university in France, he had to be there for them if they called. When she had agreed to come back and work for the lab, they had promised each other that it would not change them but it had. Everything that they did had been forced into letters, phone calls and videos. It was hard to not touch him and kiss him, talk to him face to face. Now he would be here with them. Sara found herself smiling and forced herself back into the staff room, resisting the urge to dash to the front of the building and wait for him. She slid back into her seat and felt Catherine's eyes fall on her again. She just grinned at her and rested her head on the back of her seat. It didn't matter anymore. In a little while Grissom would be with her again.

"Hey Sara, do you want a slice?"

Nick leaned forward and wafted the pizza box under her nose.

"No thanks Nicky. I'm not hungry"

"Your loss. It's a great pizza"

"I'm sure it is"

She let her eyes move back to the clock that ticked in it's painfully slow manner as she waited for Grissom to arrive. She was completely distracted when she felt a hand fall on her shoulder and she jumped a little. She turned to find Brass smiling down on her.

"I need to talk to you"

Sara followed him quickly from the room and then stopped mid-step as she saw Grissom. The pause only lasted a moment before she threw herself the last few steps and into his arms. She pressed her face into his neck, inhaling his clean scent, her arms pulling him closer and for a second it was like they had never been apart. Her world was whole again because he was there in her arms.

"God I've missed you"

His mouth was close to her ear, his lips brushing the lobe gently, sending a shiver down her spine. She pulled away from him and moved back to get a look at him. He looked the same and that gave her another level of comfort. She moved back into his arms again and moved her lips to his, kissing him for the first time in weeks.

"I suppose we should go and revel the surprise huh?"

She took Grissom's hand, linking his fingers with hers. He gave her a wide smile and tugged her close.

"We have tonight"

He pressed a quick kiss to her temple before they started walking towards the staff room, Brass trailing behind them. When they walked in Catherine, Nick and Greg were arguing about a case and the conversation stopped mid-flow as the team froze and studied Grissom in the doorway. Catherine moved first, striding across the room and hugging Grissom. She pressed a kiss to his cheek and gave him a wide smile.

"You're back"

Grissom smiled back at her.

"Looks that way. My wife wanted it to be a surprise for you"

Greg and Nick moved forward as well, more hugs exchanged and then the talking started up again. They wanted to know everything that had happened in France and he wanted to know everything that had happened in his absence. Sara let them talk, her hand still firmly connected to him. She didn't realize how much she needed that connection, that physical contact with him. It was another hour before Grissom bowed out of the conversation, claiming jet lag and a need to unpack. More hug were exchanged and finally they were able to escape. She leaned on him in the taxi, snuggling into his side. She had missed him so much. When they finally got into her apartment, Grissom dropped his bag into her room before moving forward and kissing her. It wasn't a rough, frantic kiss that she was expecting, this was more dangerous. Slow, hot and thorough, he had her pressed against the wall, the length of her body touching his. She forgot everything as he kissed her, happy to get lost in the passion. Every movement was slow as he undid the buttons of her shirt, pressing hot, moist kisses to the exposed skin. He pushed her hands away as she tried to unbutton his shirt, swallowing her moans of protest in more kisses. Eventually she was naked except for her underwear while he was still fully dressed. She growled at him, impatient, desperate for the skin-to-skin contact that the last month of her life had lacked. He just smiled down at her, ignoring her protest completely. He lifted her off her feet easily, with no effort and took her into the room. She soon forgot what her protest was about as Grissom proceeded to kiss her from head to foot and every inch between. It was only when she lay completely sated did he quickly removed his clothes and let her explore him as he had done her. When the final act itself finally came into play, Sara finally felt whole again. Living without Grissom had proven to her, again, that they had made the right choice in being together. When they had gotten married she had only been certain about Grissom nothing else. But this time apart had proven to her that Grissom was more a part of her, and he a firm part of him. For a moment she felt a desperate pang of panic at the idea of his return to France, which was scheduled for a week from his arrival. Grissom caught the look on her face and paused mid-movement, his hands stroking her cheeks.

"Where did you go?"

Sara kissed the palm of his hand.

"I just had a moment of panic at the idea of you leaving"

Grissom leaned forward and kissed her, his lips slow and gentle on hers. When he finally pulled away again, she was breathless, her body moving under his, trying to get the rhythm again. They said nothing more about him leaving, letting themselves forget, just for a moment, the world that threatened to separate them again.

When Sara woke up some hours later, Grissom remained asleep beside her. She studied him for a while, wanting these moments together to be etched in her memory. She brushed her hand softly over his serious brow, now relaxed in sleep. Her fingers traced the laugh lines that littered the edge of his eyes. His lips were red from their love making and Sara loved the dips and curves that were held in his smile. She traced a path from his mouth to his cheek, his jaw and then followed the line down his neck. Grissom's voice, drunk with sleep interrupted her journey.

"Stop that. I need sleep"

"So sleep"

"Impossible while you are touching me with those careful, little hands of yours"

"I'm just letting myself remember. It's been too long since I saw you like this"

"Like what? Naked"

Sara laughed and traced small patterns on his stomach.

"No, just here in our bed. Where we can do whatever we want."

"Please stop the investigation, you are heading into dangerous territory."

Sara smiled down at him as she let her hand drift even lower. He responded quickly, hard against her hand. She kept her touch feather light as she moved it up and down his shaft, making Grissom moan and strain against her hand.

"Sara"

Her name torn from his lips was both a plea to stop and continue. She moved back up his body, one hand remaining on him as she kissed her way up his chest. His lips captured hers and all thoughts of torturing him escaped her. She just wanted him inside her, wanted the moment where they were one person, where her heart and soul felt complete.

Finally, reality would not be put on hold any longer. The eventually got out of bed and resumed their idea of living. It had been a long time since that had been under the same roof. They had been married almost two years and had spent most of that time apart and it broke Sara's heart that that was to be their future for a little while yet. Grissom needed to complete his work which meant that he had to be in France and she had signed on to stay help the team for a while longer. The only thing that France held for her was Grissom. She didn't feel challenged or stimulated. Going there had been Grissom's offer and his idea and she had wanted to support him as much as she could. After a few months, after all the sight seeing that she could stomach, boredom had started setting in. She spent her days in the hotel just waiting for Grissom to come home. Then at night she would help him write lectures for his next class, going through old copies of Forensic Journals and making sure that all the information was backed by evidence as well as their own personal experiences. Grissom said that he could pin point the moment where the boredom had become a different beast entirely but Sara was unsure. She wasn't aware of the change but she felt the restlessness and resented it. What kind of wife could not tolerate a year in another country to support her husband? It had been Grissom who had encouraged her to take Ecklie's offer to go back to the lab. It was Grissom who spent over a week convincing her to go, that he would be fine without her. But it was Sara who had to deal with the guilt. She knew that Grissom had spent years as a bachelor and he knew how to take care of himself but she still felt that she was neglecting him. It was the hardest thing that she had to do leaving him behind. When she had first left Las Vegas, she had done it for her own health and for Grissom's benefit as well. She didn't want him to see her self-destruct. This time she was leaving him behind for her sanity, as he had said. And the moment she was on the plane, she wanted to go back, was willing to tolerate the boredom just to be with him. Now he was here and as nice as it was, after months of living apart, she kept forgetting that he was there.

"I missed this"

Sara snapped from her thoughts.

"Huh?"

"I missed this. Us I mean."

Sara smiled slightly.

"Me too. Now we get to pretend like a normal married couple"

Grissom moved closer to her.

"I don't think anything in our relationship suggests that we are normal in any way"

"Good point. What did you want to do today?"

"Go back to bed and have my evil way with you several more times"

"Ok at some point we need to do something. We can't waste what little time you have here"

Grissom pressed a small row of kisses on her cheek.

"Making love to you is something that I would consider a long term investment"

Sara moved away from him a little.

"Gil, seriously"

Grissom frowned and took a seat next to her.

"What's wrong?"

Sara shrugged.

"Nothing. I just feel a little restless that's all"

Grissom shook his head, studying her.

"That's not it. Tell me the truth"

Sara sighed heavily.

"You leave in a week"

"Technically six days but I know I do. We knew this going in"

"Yeah well I think I'll be coming back with you"

"No your place is here. You hated France"

"Yeah well without you I'd hate it anywhere. I can't do this anymore. We are married, we should be together"

Grissom put his arm around her and she moved forward, pressing her face into his chest.

"Sara, I need you to be happy"

"I can't be that without you. I want to come back with you"

"How about we see where we stand in a week? You need to think about this before you do anything rash."

Sara looked up at him, smiling his favourite crooked smile.

"You know that I'll just pretend to think about it don't you?"

Grissom nodded.

"And you know that I'll pretend to consider that an option"

"It's too hard being apart. I like having you with me"

"I know. I like having you with me too but at some point we will need to do things separately, so this is good practice."

"I don't know about you but when I married you, I didn't sign up for this"

"Sign up for what?"

"Not being able to hold you at night, knowing that you are on the other side of the world and not being able to see you"

Grissom said nothing, could think of nothing to say. Sara's words hit too close to home. He had never been happier then when she agreed to marry him. And he had never been more miserable when they were apart. After so many years of seeing each other everyday, it felt like he was missing a vital part of himself when she wasn't there. Without Sara, he would be stumbling around missing half of himself. France was meant to be a fresh start, a reason to celebrate their new life together. Instead, they were apart and unhappy. This wasn't part of the plan he had when he had taken the job in France. They were meant to be back in Costa Rica with a grant under their belts looking for new specimens of insects. Instead they were caught in a position where someone was going to get hurt.

The one thing that drove her nuts was the fact that she had missed their wedding. She knew from Grissom that it was nothing more then a celebrant, them and the celebrant's wife as a witness but Catherine still found herself a little upset with the situation. She loved both Sara and Grissom and wanted to share in that happiness of them getting married. Instead she got told after the fact. And for some reason it annoyed the hell out of her. So after consulting with Nick and Greg, she decided that there was only one option for the whole thing; she would throw them another wedding for all the friends that missed out on the happy event the first time. The only thing was that she had six days to do it in.

"Cath, this is nuts"

Nick stood, his arms loaded down with menus from different catering firms.

"No it's not Nicky"

"And what happens when a case comes through and it gets busy again?"

Catherine smiled widely.

"I'm a mother; I love to multi-task. And you offered to help, remember that"

"I offered when I thought that it would just be us. How big is the guest list now?"

Catherine shrugged.

"Around thirty-five but that is including spouses"

"Cath…"

Catherine turned to Nick, a frown forming.

"Nicky, you can't tell me that you didn't want to be there, to see them get married."

"I'm not saying that Cath, all I'm saying is that there is a lot to plan in a matter of days"

"So? I've had worse deadlines then this. It will be worth it, I promise. So how is your end of the bargain going?"

Nick slipped the menu's onto Catherine's desk, trying to stack them as neatly as possible.

"All done. I have the certificate and everything."

"Good"

Brass walked in at that moment, pager in hand, his face confused.

"What's the emergency Cath?"

"Sit down Jim."

Brass frowned at Catherine before taking a seat as instructed.

"Ok, so why am I here?"

Catherine took the seat behind her desk, giving Brass a wide smile.

"I've decided to throw a surprise wedding for Grissom and Sara"

"Ok. Why?"

"I want us to celebrate together and we missed the first wedding so I thought that this was a fair compromise."

Brass nodded slowly.

"So what is my part in this?"

Catherine leaned forward slightly.

"Sara will need someone to give her away. I thought that you might like that job"

Brass opened and closed his mouth a few times.

"Yes, I'll do it. Do they know anything?"

Catherine smiled proudly.

"They have no idea."

"So how do you plan to spring this on them?"

"Make it a night out to farewell Grissom and then dump it on their laps."

Brass narrowed his eyes.

"You would never know it to look at you but you are a schemer aren't you?"

"I am indeed. So you are in?"

Brass nodded before looking at Nick.

"So what's your part in this Nicky?"

"You mean apart from being Catherine's bitch? I get to marry them"

Brass smiled widely.

"Nice. So do you need me to do anything else?"

Nick shook his head, trying to warn him but it didn't work. Catherine smiled brightly at Brass.

"Now that you mention it….."

Two nights before he was meant to leave, they still hadn't talked about her going with him. Grissom never said a word, never gave any kind of indication that he had reached a decision so Sara knew that it meant that nothing had changed. Both were to stubborn to make a sudden move towards the other end of the choice. Sara was too afraid to approach the topic, didn't want to be scared by his thoughts on the topic. His career was too important to him for the risk that not returning will present. Sara watched Grissom carefully, trying to gauge what he was thinking but he kept his thoughts to himself, his cards close to his chest. They were having breakfast when he slid a large envelope over the table to her, address down. She frowned at him.

"Open it"

Sara picked it up carefully and pulled out the contents. A letter was the first thing that got her attention. She sipped her coffee as she read.

Dear Mr Grissom,

We were honoured to hear that you wished to continue your research with us here at the University. Obviously it is hard to find professors and teachers that have your level of skill teach the students all that they need to know about forensics.

We would like to set up a specialised course for you pertaining to your talents and history within the realm of criminology and forensics. We have also begun a class on the study of insects and bug live within the realm of forensics, to begin next semester. We hope that these adjustments will make your choice and time with us fulfilling to both the University and yourself personally.

Yours Sincerely,

Dean Martin Brownlow.

Sara's coffee hovered mid-air, never making it to her mouth or the table. Grissom had made a decision after all.

"What is this?"

Grissom shrugged, sipping his coffee before answering.

"A solution"

"A solution that you never asked me about"

Grissom frowned.

"I thought you would be happy. I can still teach and you and I are in the same place."

"But you never asked for my opinion"

"I didn't think I had too"

Sara read through the letter again, slower this time.

"You are going to put a huge dent in your reputation and career doing this"

Grissom put his coffee down, his voice unconcerned.

"I don't care"

"Well I do. Your career is the most important thing in this equation. Nothing else matters"

"You are wrong you know. My career does not matter"

"Don't be an idiot, yes it does"

Grissom shifted in his seat, leaning forward, his eyes catching Sara's.

"When we first got together, it took a while for the reality of it all to set in. The fact that I could hold you, kiss you, make love to you and really get to know you, without any barriers was thrilling for me. It was like being permanently intoxicated. Then that feeling moved onto loving you and I found something even better. Then when you agreed to marry me…"

Grissom let the sentence hang in the air. Sara shook her head.

"Then I took it all away when I left you"

"But Sara that was the most important part in it all. I needed to learn how to let you go, to be selfless enough to let you find what you needed."

"You weren't all that patient. You found me remember?"

They exchanged a smile and Grissom reached over and took her hand in his.

"It took my entire life to find you Sara. When we got married I made a promise to myself to put that first and nothing else. My career is nothing in comparison to our marriage. You are the most important thing to me. We are the most important thing to me"

Sara leaned forward and stroked the side of his face. She knew when they had gotten together they had both changed each other. Small things but changes none the less. But she never would have guessed that her influence, her love had changed him to that extent.

"I love you"

Grissom leaned forward and laid a kiss on her temple.

"I love you too. So you're not mad with me?"

"No relieved actually. I didn't want you to go anywhere without me. It's too hard."

"I know. Just remember that you're my world Sara. Nothing is going to change that. Remember that ok?"

Sara nodded and gently pressed her lips to his, happy for the first time since he had arrived home. He was staying and her world was whole again.