Engaging Conversations
There is love and laughter and a little mystery involved when Grissom and Sara begin to plan a life together.
Part of the Time series. Follows "The Good Fight," "Closing Arguments," "Reconciliation" and "Admitting Impediments" and takes places post season eight, circa February 2009.
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One
"You packed lightly," Sara said simply as she helped Grissom put away
his small stock of freshly laundered clothes.
After seeing the rather sorry state of Sara's side of the small closet,
Grissom thought he could have probably said the same thing to her, but even after finally having been able to share the last few days with her with a certain measure of unguarded openness, he was still a little nervous about undermining the hard-won quiet sense of contentment that had gradually begun to reemerge between them.
He was therefore markedly relieved to hear the hint of a tease there when she asked, "Not planning to stay for very long?"
"Hardly."
As she watched him hang up the last of his shirts, she said with a slight shake of the head, "What did you do, jump on the highway as soon as you hit the door?"
He smiled. His actions hadn't been as impulsive as all that. Although it was true that he hadn't bothered to return home after his talk with Greg. He hadn't needed to. He always kept a few changes of clothes and a modest supply of toiletries in the trunk of his car in case of unforeseen emergencies.
He had spent the intervening hours until Ecklie was scheduled to be in taking care of the paperwork on his desk. An effort that had not proven to be all that daunting of an enterprise as the last several months of working primarily double-shifts had provided him with ample time to complete his much loathed administrative duties. He couldn't remember the last time Conrad had had to ask him for a much as a weekly stats report.
Knowing her to be an early riser, Grissom had called Robin a little after six to make sure she could take care of Hank. The dog sitter had, as always, proved buoyantly enthusiastic at the prospect of having Hank stay with her.
While he was in part very grateful for this, there were still times when he had to wonder if one day Robin would refuse to let him take his dog home. As
Hank had probably spent more time in the young woman's company than his own as of late, he was also a little afraid that the time might come when Hank just might refuse to go home with him.
Once his interview with the assistant director had gone entirely according to plan, or at least had produced the intended outcome, he had hurried back to his office to get ready to leave. He had barely registered the presence of Nick and Greg before he was out the door.
"Not exactly," he told Sara. "I had to make a stop first."
"For coffee?" She queried, sounding amused.
Grissom paused for a moment. Thinking of the past few days, he considered that perhaps, it wasn't too soon -- or too late -- to make good on a promise he had mentally made to Sara months ago.
"No," he answered with a soft smile. Taking a deep breath that did nothing to calm his sudden nerves, he bent down and unzipped the side of his overnight bag and withdrew a small velvet covered box. As he straightened up, he said, "To pick this up."
He turned to face her. "I meant to give it to you sooner... I mean even before... Ever since the day with the bees really... But I wanted to get it cleaned up and resized first." He extended the box to her. "I think the jeweler was hoping I had just forgotten about it."
Sara simply stared at it.
"It won't bite if you take it," Grissom said. There was a still hint of anxiety even in this attempt at humor.
He watched her slowly reach out and close her fingers around it. She looked rather pale and her eyes went wide as she eased the box open to reveal what lay inside.
"I know it's probably a little old-fashioned for your taste --" Grissom began apologetically.
"It's beautiful," Sara breathed.
"But I wanted you to have it," he continued to explain as if he hadn't heard her. "It belonged to my grandmother. But if you want..."
Sara stopped him in mid-sentence with a soft, yet insistent kiss.
Grissom had never so loved being interrupted in his life and would have gladly welcomed the prospect of being cut off more frequently if that was how
Sara was going to do it from now on.
For her part, Sara was trying desperately not to cry.
She had so few relics from her family (not that she really wanted any anyway) and knew that Grissom didn't possess that many more (and had good reason to value his so highly), so the idea that he wanted to give her something that precious and valuable to him touched her more than she had words to say. And while she understood that the act of marriage by its nature involved a certain sense of welcome and initiation into another family, his gift reinforced the idea that he really wanted to make her a part of his.
As she pulled away, he gave her a steadier smile. "That was a lot more enthusiastic response than what I got from Nicole Daley."
Sara frowned slightly, "Who?"
"She was the last person I tried to give it to."
When her face seemed darken, Grissom laughed. "It was second grade.
We were nine, Sara," he explained. "And my mother made me get the ring back."
Still a little nonplussed, she said, "You asked a girl to marry you when you were nine?"
"Yes, the first, last and only time. Before you of course." When she continued to look incredulous, he added, "It seemed like a good idea at the time. I liked bugs. She liked bugs. Turns out she drew the line at dead things."
At this, Sara couldn't help but chuckle. Grissom gave her a mock hurt glance before he told her, his voice turning serious again, "Perhaps I should have waited... To give it to you." He gestured to the ring in her hand. "Done it the right way, at least this time -- taken you out properly, gotten down on one knee --"
She kissed him quiet again.
"I like your way better," she assured him. "I always have."
He returned her kiss wholeheartedly, feeling as if a great weight of uncertainty had been lifted off his shoulders. After a few moments, they both had to break away for air.
"The answer's still yes, by the way," Sara said, indicating that he should take the box back. When she extended her left hand, he finally understood her intention and carefully extracted the ring and slid it onto her finger where he was very happy to find that it fit perfectly.