Chapter One
Grissom stood on the porch with his Aunt and cousin. He took in a deep breath of the fresh air and let it out heavily. Debbie wrapped him up in a warm embrace and kissed him on his bearded cheek. His Aunt Beth stepped closer and kissed him on the opposite cheek.
"Drive safe, Gil. Tell Sara we were sorry she couldn't make it for the service." Beth told him as he walked down the stairs.
Gil gave one last wave to his family as he turned onto the main road and headed for the airport. He wiped at his eyes, trying to rid them of the offending tears. He pulled on a pair of sunglasses and turned up the radio station. The funeral had been just what his mother had wanted. She was a devout Catholic, so it suited her religious views. Grissom wouldn't have chosen such a traditional church funeral, but it was what she had wanted and he abided by her wishes. He had just wished Sara could have been there.
Several hours later, Gil was waiting for his suitcases to come off the luggage carousel in the airport. He took a deep breath of the familiar Vegas air and smiled. He was home. And more importantly, he was going home to Sara. HIS Sara. Finally his. They had been secretly dating for six months now. She had wanted to be there for him at his mother's funeral, but there was just no way around giving her the time off without outing their budding relationship.
"Hey, sexy. Need help with that?" Grissom grinned and turned around to see Sara standing there with a huge grin on her face.
"Well, if you're offering......." He pointed to the largest of his three suitcases and smiled at her.
"Didn't you leave with just ONE suitcase, Gil?" Sara inquired as she pulled on the handle of the large bag.
"Yeah. I decided to bring some of my mother's things back with me instead of shipping them."
"Oh." Sara was feeling guilty that she couldn't be there for him at the funeral and now here she was making fun of him for bringing back some of his mother's possessions. "Good one, Sidle" she mumbled to herself.
"What, Dear?" Gil turned around to look at her.
"Nothing." She smiled sweetly and stepped closer to him. Gil raised his eyebrow in question, but Sara just leaned in and placed a quick kiss on his mouth.
"Sara...." Gil said in warning and looked around to make sure no one had seen.
"Sorry. I just missed you." Sara stated and began to walk towards her vehicle, suitcase in tow.
They arrived at Gil's townhouse a half hour later. Sara helped him carry the suitcases into the living room. Gil took his suitcase into the bedroom, leaving Sara standing in the middle of the living room. Sara shook her head and followed him into the bedroom. He was bending over into his closet. Sara smiled and sneaked up behind him. She wrapped her arms around his middle, which caused him to jump up in surprise. Sara stumbled backwards, laughing at the look on his face.
"Don't you know its not polite to give your boyfriend a heart attack?" Grissom clutched at his racing heart. Sara smiled seductively at him and stepped closer. She wrapped her arms around him again, pulling him in for a searing kiss. Grissom moaned into her mouth and deepened the kiss. Minutes later, they pulled apart, breathless.
"Wow." Gil smiled at Sara. "I need to go away and come back more often."
"Not if I can help it!" Sara smacked him playfully on the butt. "You are NEVER leaving my sight again."
"Hmmm." Gil replied and took her mouth in another sloppy kiss. Sara groaned when Gil's phone went off.
"Grissom." He stepped away from Sara's embrace while he talked. "Oh, Hi, Catherine." He rolled his eyes. Sara put her hand over her mouth and laughed. "I just got in less than an hour ago." "Yeah, thank you for the flowers." "Well, Im glad I missed out on that one." "Yeah, ok. I'll be in early for shift so we can catch up." "Sara? Uh, no. Why?" "Hmmm. Well, I guess I'll have to have a talk with her." "Ok. I'll see you then. Bye."
Grissom turned towards Sara with a questioning look. "Anything you need to tell me, Ms. Sidle?"
"Ms. Sidle?" She snorted at him. "I guess Catherine told you about our little disagreement."
"Disagreement? She said you threatened to go to Ecklie about her lack of skills as a supervisor." He rubbed his eyes and sat down on the edge of the bed. He looked up at Sara. "Tell me what happened."
"Don't you think we should wait until shift?" Sara sat down next to Gil on the bed. "I mean, we keep our private life out of work. Why not the same about work in our private life?"
"Sara....." He took her hands in his larger ones. "Tell me what happened."
"Catherine sure has a way of spoiling a mood." Sara grinned at him.
"What? Nah." He looked at Sara and formed a wicked grin. Before she could say another word, Grissom had her flat on her back on the mattress. He was above her, placing light kisses on her face, neck and shoulders.
"Gil!" Sara said with laughter. "Guess you're keeping work at work, huh?"
Sara felt him smile against her neck as he kissed his way back up to her ear. His moist breath in her ear made her shiver. "I'm just keeping private things private, my Dear."
Catherine sat in the breakroom waiting for Gil to show up. She had taken over shift supervisor responsibilities for Grissom while he was in Michigan at his Mother's funeral. She felt sorry for him. He was an only child, and from what she could gather, his dad died some time ago. He had mentioned an Aunt and cousins, but getting information that personal out of Gil Grissom was near impossible.
"Hello, Catherine." Grissom popped his head in the breakroom door. "My office?"
"Yeah." She got up and followed him into his office. She took a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk. Catherine sipped at her coffee while Gil got settled into his office.
"So....you doing okay?" Catherine asked, concern evident in her voice.
"Yes, Catherine. I'm fine. Thanks for being concerned, but I do have people who care for me outside of work." He flipped through some papers on his desk, not making eye contact.
Catherine watched him with interest. He was either telling her to 'bug off" or he had a girlfriend! There was no way he meant some old Aunt or a third cousin he saw only once a year. He was far too happy. Gil glanced up at her. She stared at him a smile slowly spreading across her face.
"What!" Grissom was getting pissed.
"You got laid!" Catherine announced. "Gil Grissom. Just when I think I have you figured out, you go and surprise me."
"What?" His voice was about three octaves higher than usual. He cleared his throat. "Catherine. I think you need to think about the appropriateness of this discussion."
"So, you did?" She winked at him.
"NO!" He put his glasses on. "And even if I did, I wouldn't discuss it with you."
"A-HA!" Catherine smiled triumphantly. "You sooo got laid!"
Sara stopped dead in her tracks. Did Catherine just say what she thought she said? Sara walked slowly closer to Grissom's office. Stopping just outside the door, making sure neither Gil nor Catherine could see her. She smiled at Gil's response.
"Catherine.....not everyone solves their problems with sex."
"Yeah. Yeah." Catherine just leaned back in the chair and smiled at Gil, convinced he had hooked up with someone while he was gone. "But it sure helps."
"So, fill me in." Grissom demanded, ignoring her comments.
"Wow! You really are private." Catherine proceeded to fill him in on a few cases and went through some of the paperwork.
Sara walked back to the breakroom after Gil and Catherine began to discuss paperwork. Sara poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table with a case file. Twenty minutes later Catherine appeared. She walked silently to the coffee pot and poured herself a cup. She left without saying a word. "Typical", Sara mumbled under her breath.a
"Hey, Sara?" Gil called to her from the doorway. "Can we have a talk? My office?"
"Sure." Sara grinned at him. She took refilled her cup and followed him down the hallway to his office. Gil was already sitting at his desk, so Sara took a seat opposite him.
"So, Catherine tells me you guys had an argument about how to handle a case."
"Yes, you know we did." She smiled at him.
"Sara....." He warned her, looking over the rim of his glasses.
"Fine." She leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest. "Yes, we had a slight disagreement. Catherine seems to think being Supervisor equals dictator. She wouldn't listen to ANYTHING I had to say about how to handle the case."
"She says you were rude and acted inappropriately when questioning the suspect." Gil took off his glasses and let out a sigh. "Sara, I know how emotional you can get with these cases. But you have to follow the rules."
"I know that, Grissom. I know I lost it. But Catherine had NO right to reprimand me like a child in front of the entire Las Vegas PD!"
"What?" The confusion was evident on his face.
"Oh, she left that part out? Why I'm shocked!" Sara's words dripped with the sarcasm that they all knew so well.
"Ok, look. Let's all just try to get along, ok? I know Catherine can be bossy."
"Ya think?" Sara sneered.
"BUT.....Sara, you need to control your temper and reign in the sarcasm just a tad."
"Fine." Sara stood up. "Is that all?"
"Actually.......no." Sara sat back down. "Sara, I think you need some time off."
"What?" She began to protest but Grissom just held up his hand and smiled.
"We have a cruise to take. Remember?" Grissom smiled at her.
"How?" Sara was now intrigued.
"Well, there happens to be a research project I signed up for in Anchorage. And our scheduled 5 day cruise that my family bought for us? It happens to be during that time. I arranged it so you have vacation.......I have the project..........and we can take 5 days to go on that cruise."
"How did you manage that, Dr. Grissom?" Sara was grinning from ear to ear.
"Well, the head researcher, happens to be an old college friend. I told him bout you, and he said he could spare me for 5 days." Grissom watched as Sara got up from her seat and began to pace.
"Wow! Just.....wow!" Sara stopped pacing and stood in the middle of the room staring at Gil. "Wait. How long will you be gone on the research thing?"
"Oh, uh..."Grissom shifted in his seat. "It's for 3 weeks."
"So, you'll be gone again." Disappointment was evident in her voice.
"Well, yeah. But I think that a 3 week vacation for you is in order.......or rather....AN ORDER." Grissom held out a letter to her. Sara snatched it out of his grasp and read the letter.a
"So, Ecklie is demanding I take time off." Sara stood there, blank look on her face. After a few minutes she leaned on Grissom's desk, looked him in the eyes and smiled. "Need an assistant researcher?"
Gil sat forward, leaning close to her face. "That's the plan."
A/N: well! Im finally off and running with the sequel to CSI: Christmas, Sara and Invitation. Hope you like so far. It will get better! I think this will be a 10+ chapter story. I will try to update a couple times a week. So, please leave a review and let me know what you think so far! Any ideas are welcome! Wendy
