Disclaimer: Moochie and Prairie do not own CSI. If we did, Warrick would still be alive and breathing.

The Arrival: A Valentine's Kiss

February 13, 2011

Las Vegas, Nevada

Sara Sidle-Grissom rolled over in bed and curled against her husband's warm, muscular back.

He grunted in response. "Morning already?" he asked, turning to take his wife in his arms.

"Almost time to get up," she answered, placing gentle kisses under his chin before tucking her head beneath it and sighing at the comfort and safety she found in his embrace.

Gil's hand snuck down to cup the baby growing in her belly. "How is our little one this morning?" he asked, splaying his large hand over her belly button. Sara was seven months pregnant with their first child, a daughter they had decided to name Olivia Kaitelyn.

Sara smiled in the gray light of dawn slanting between the blinds. "Busy," she said. "It's Olivia's fault I'm awake so early to pester you," she smirked.

"Well, since we're both already awake, I can think of a few things we can do to occupy our time." He gently rolled Sara onto her back and delighted her with the most sensuous of kisses.

Sara allowed her arms to slide around his neck, and it was much later when she finally made it to the shower to get ready for work. When she emerged after her hasty shower, she found that her husband had made her a vegetarian omelet and had a cup of her favorite hot tea waiting on the table. A smile turned up the corners of her mouth as she went to him and slipped her arms around his waist. "Thank you, Gil," she murmured against his lips as she gave him a tender kiss.

Grissom led her to the table and pulled out her chair to seat her. Realizing that if she didn't leave soon she would be late, Sara ate quickly and hurried into her coat. Gil picked up her bag and handed it to her. "I'll see you tonight," he told her. Gil had decided he never wanted to go back to the lab. Instead he had been working on several journal articles and was nearly finished with a book he had been intending to write for years. "I'm hoping to get another chapter completed today."

"You will," Sara reassured him. "I know it." She hurried to the door, turning at the last minute to holler back, "I love you!"

"I love you, too, Sara," he answered, sighing in the quietness of the townhouse when she closed the door behind her.

Sara settled behind the wheel of Grissom's Mercedes and tossed her bag onto the passenger seat next to her. She turned on the radio and began to sing mindlessly along with the song that was playing. Turning into traffic, she allowed her mind to drift to the day ahead. No longer allowed to be in the field because of her pregnancy, she was confined to the lab. It would be another long day of paperwork with maybe a bit of evidence to examine.

Sara stopped her car at a red light and tapped her fingernails on the steering wheel in time to the music. She noticed the price of gas at the gas station on the corner and decided that she would stop there on the way home and fill up the tank.

The light turned green and Sara pressed her foot against the gas pedal. In the middle of the intersection, the sound of squealing tires made her tense. Suddenly, there was the sickening crunch of metal on metal and her body was tossed to the right against her seatbelt. The noise seemed endless, but then there was blessed silence. Sara's heart pounded in her ears, and her first sane thoughts were of her baby.

She could hear someone calling to her, asking if she was okay, but it sounded as if it were coming from a distance. Her eyelids felt heavy, weighted down, and she was unable to open them. She wanted to scream for someone to please help her; her baby was in danger, but her body wouldn't cooperate.

A sharp pain shot through her left leg, causing her to moan. The pain got worse until merciful blackness gave her relief.

To Be Continued…