Status: Work in Progress.
Beta-ed by: The amazing Lisa , thank you so much!
A/N: So this idea arose when I was talking to Bonnieaw about writing something for Christmas. We talked about it for a long time, and finally came up with some sort of outline. She also wrote the Catherine part of this chapter, so many thanks goes out to her! Also I want to dedicate this fic to my sister Kacee, for talking her means ever so much to me. This one is for you hun!
Chapter 1
With a deep sigh Rory Atwater ran a hand over his face. The annual Christmas party was coming close again, and it was time to mail the invitations before everybody made other plans. He'd considered asking the police department as well, since they seemed to be close with the people at the crime lab. And because those people were also his responsibility as a sheriff, it was his task to create the big family idea. Besides, the more the merrier, he thought with a small smile.
Just when he had his fingers hovering above the keyboard, his phone rang. He groaned almost inaudible and grabbed the phone in his hand. "Atwater," he almost barked, he hated to be disturbed, but tried to sound cool. "Hello Conrad… yes, I was just going over the invitations… no certainly not… yes, December twenty-third sounds well… thank you… goodbye."
Conrad Ecklie had been right about the date, Christmas evening wouldn't work out. Too many people would stay home with their friends and family to celebrate. And of course the days itself weren't an option either. Satisfied he opened up a text program and thought about a good, formal, but also personal text.
With the last deep sigh he started typing, hitting backspace every once in a while until he'd made the perfect invitation. Now it was time to make reservations, to be sure they could have their dinner in the Royal Star at the Venetian. He'd opted for various other restaurants as well, but since they had very expensive equipment in the lab, he decided it would be better to save at least some money on the food. So the Royal Star seemed like a classy, but good option.
After making a few calls, he had reserved a dining room for all the personnel to fit in. Satisfied he leaned back in his chair, his head resting against his hands as he looked over the invitation one more time. For a moment longer he pondered if he would allow them to take their partner, but figured it would be too expensive if they were with too many people. No, this would be perfect, he decided.
"Great Sam," Warrick growled as he picked up the dog and jogged outside. "This is the bathroom, not inside," he explained to the dog, which was waggling its tail. "Never mind, you don't understand me," Warrick said as he carried the dog back inside.
Just when he was about to close the door, somebody called out for him. "Sir, I have a letter for you," the mail boy informed him, sounding a little out of breath from working so hard.
As Warrick turned around to the boy and grabbed the letter, the dog started to bark. "Sam, inside!" He commanded, shooing the dog inside. "Sorry, his bark is worse than his bite," he joked. "Thanks for the letter kiddo!"
With a quick 'you're welcome' the boy turned around and left. He practically jumped on his bike to finish his job quickly. Warrick smiled at that before closing the door. He knew from experience how long it could take to bring all the mail, especially around this time of the year with all the Christmas cards.
Warrick absentmindedly placed the letter on the breakfast bar, before walking over to the coffee maker, Sam walking up closely behind him. He grabbed a large mug and filled the mug with hot steaming black liquid. When he wanted to walk back into the living room he almost tripped over the dog. "Right, I know what you want. You want a cookie," he said as he placed his mug aside, reaching into one of the cabinets for the tin can with dog cookies.
"Here you go Sammy," he grinned as the dog gave his paw for it. "Sorry, I know nothing of the tricks Tina taught you boy."
With a sigh he resumed his short journey to the living room, mug in one hand, letter in the other. After setting his mug on the table he plopped on the couch, stretching out, resting his feet on the armrest. He flipped the envelope over and looked at the return address: Las Vegas Police Department. 'This could be interesting,' he thought before yanking it open.
He read it over and smiled relieved. No partners were allowed, that meant nobody would ask him why Tina wasn't with him. Their divorce papers still weren't signed, but that was only a matter of time.
An unusual feeling started to set in his belly, leaving him warm and comfortable. He closed his eyes as he sipped his coffee. If everybody was coming alone, that meant Catherine would be without her daughter. Maybe this year he would have some time to talk to her in private then.
For years he'd had a weak spot for her, but back in the beginning she was still married to Eddie. Then she divorced, but his gut feeling told him she still loved the guy. And then, he was murdered, Cath was devastated. He wished he'd have had the courage to go up to her and soothe her, but he was a coward and did nothing.
Catherine was a strong woman, a single mother with a fulltime job. He admired her, in so many ways. She was tough and independent, she did so well on her own. He figured, maybe only to stop his ongoing thoughts about her, that she didn't need a man.
Then the incident with Nick happened and he'd asked Tina, out of the blue, to marry him. Back then it had seemed like the right decision, he'd thought Cath and he would never work out, partly because of their age difference, and because of her strong armour. But God had he been wrong, the look in her eyes when she found out he was married. That look, he would never ever forget how much that one single look ached deep down his heart.
He chuckled as Sam nudged his leg with his nose. "Yeah Sam, I know…" He sighed. "This means I have to call Tina to see if she can care for you," he said as he wrinkled his nose a bit. Calling Tina was one of the things he really didn't want to do now. "I don't want to call her, I want to take a nap buddy."
When the dog tilted his head and looked at him he laughed. "I know, I'm on my way," he muttered as he grabbed the phone from the table, dialling the number he swore he'd never call again.
After more than eighteen hours of work Catherine felt relieved when she finally turned her car in front of her house. They'd had a tough case and all she could think of now was a warm bath and her bed.
The second she opened her front door she heard her daughter yell from the back of the house. "Mom, what took you so long?"
She tossed her keys and bag on the table in the hallway when Lindsey entered the room. "I'm so sorry Linds, I tried to come home early."
Lindsey looked at her with a smile she hadn't seen in a long time. "This can't be good. I'm ten hours late and you're not mad. Better, you're smiling like an idiot!"
The girl smirked at her and she knew there was something going on. "Well, I was a bit pissed to be honest."
Catherine gave her a warming look for her choice of language, but the girl continued. "First, if I had to stay mad every time you're home late, I would never get any rest. I know it's part of the job mom."
Catherine replaced her warning look for a warm smile when she heard her daughters' words. "Second," Lindsey went on, "Something in the mail today cheered me up!" When she waved playfully with the LVPD envelope Cath's eyes grew a little wider.
"What on earth could be coming from work worth smiling about? And who gave you permission to open my mail hon?"
Lindsey told her she should have come home on time to open the mail herself and gave her the invitation. She read it twice, trying to find what was so amusing about it. Just when she opened her mouth to ask, Lindsey spoke up. "You don't get it do you? No partners… Do you know what that means?"
Catherine looked at her with a confused look. "I thought you liked it to spend time with Gil and the rest."
She smiled again. "Yes I do, but that isn't where I'm aiming at. Think mom, this means that Tina won't be there!"
Lindsey knew it was dangerous to bring the Warrick thing up again but she couldn't resist. She could remember that even before her father died she'd felt extremely comfortable around him. He was the only man she would be happy to see her mom with. 'Well, maybe Gil too, but like that was going to happen.' She giggled at the thought and wondered why her mother wasn't saying something about her comment yet. Usually her mother bit the moment she brought Warrick up, saying there wasn't anything there.
She looked up and noticed the woman's mind was not present in the room. "This could be fun," she smirked. With the notice that there was no reaction to her words she decided to fire it up a bit. "Hello, mom!" Catherine looked up. "We're going shopping. You have to look stunning."
When Catherine finally snapped out her thoughts about Warrick attending the party without his wife she knew she wasn't going to going to get out of this one easy. "Lindsey, where are you talking about!? I've told you more than once there is nothing going on between me and Warrick."
The look on her daughters face told her she didn't buy it. "Yeah mom, but isn't that the whole problem? You can't deny you were miserable when you found out about Tina. You have to hide your feelings a bit better if you don't want me to know. I don't see much of you, but we do live in the same house."
Catherine figured it was probably best to give in to it, she was tired and definitely not going to win an argument now.
She followed Lindsey to the kitchen and took the mug of steaming coffee she was offered. "Take this, looks like you need it."
She sipped on her coffee and thought about how lucky she was to have a daughter like her. "Thanks Linds, you always have nice ways to tell me I look like crap." She couldn't help but smile at the girl. "Why is it that nothing goes past you? I don't seem able to keep anything from you."
Lindsey opened the fridge and took what she needed to make something to eat for her mother. "Don't you have the same reputation at the lab? I guess it's like mother, like daughter."
She started to chop some vegetables and opened the gas. "Go take a shower, I'll have something to eat when you're finished."
A shower did sound good and the food after even better. She finished her coffee and stood. "Because of my extra hours I got the next shift off. Let me get some sleep later and then we'll go shopping."
She got the reaction she wanted when the girls face lit up. With that, she walked to the bathroom.
"A Christmas party? Are you kidding me?" Sara exclaimed as she was sitting on the couch, staring at the invitation she was holding in her hands, the envelope which held her name long forgotten on the floor between her feet. She rolled her eyes as she heard Grissom laughing at her. "What? You didn't seriously consider going… did you?" She inquired as she looked over to where he was standing.
Grissom smiled mischievously at her. "So I did," he said playfully as he watched how her eyes widened.
"What?!" She exclaimed. "Gil Grissom going to an annual party? I thought I'd never see the day. You were always the one who detested it most greatly. Why the change?"
Grissom walked over to her and sat down on the coffee table in front of her, grabbing the letter from her hands to hold them in his. "The thought of you in a dress, for one," he chuckled and kissed her hand.
"And second?" She whispered sweetly as her brown eyes locked with his ocean ones.
He smiled gently at her, rubbing his thumb over her hands in soft motions. "Now I have an excuse to dote up on you." When he saw she started to object he held up his hand. "No, hear me out Sara. For nearly fifty years I've had nobody to spend any money on, I want to know what it is, to treat someone like a princess. And that's what you are, you are a princess Sara, and I'm so sorry I didn't realize that soon enough."
She quickly shushed him by brushing her lips against his teasingly. She pulled back, a shimmer in her eyes. "Don't talk about that ever again, I've told you many… many times that you came right on time. I'd sorted my feelings out and I was ready, I don't think I was really ready before."
He looked at her, feeling so vulnerable, but loved at once. "Thank you, you have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say that again," he said as he squeezed her hands.
Sara giggled softly, "You're ever so welcome. Now, there's one slight problem," she muttered as she pulled her hands free from his grip, grabbing the letter again."
" 'Because this evening is meant for the family we are, I apologize to have to tell you that it is not allowed to take any partners with you to the dinner.' This is ridiculous, every year people were allowed to bring their partner," Sara huffed as she showed Grissom the letter.
He read it and smiled at her. "Hmmm, that only means we have to keep our involvement hidden a little bit longer don't we dear?"
Sara nodded. "Also," she said as she quoted yet another line of the invitation. " 'This annual dinner will be held at the Royal Star in the Venetian hotel on Saturday December twenty-third of the year two-thousand-six.' You know what this means right?"
He looked at her, "Yes I do… baby we'll just open the presents another day then."
She pouted playfully. "But your mom will be here from Sunday until Wednesday. So that means we can only give the presents after Christmas."
He nodded, "Or, we could do it tonight," he whispered as he held her hands in his once again. "That's if you want to. I mean…"
Sara smiled brightly. "I'd love to do it tonight, the presents are under the tree already, so it would seem like a good idea to me."
He matched her smile as he stood up and shut off the lights. The only lights were coming from the Christmas tree, and it gave everything a nice glow. He then helped her up, so they could sit in front of the tree.
After they'd sat down he grabbed one of the presents, kissing her cheek. "Merry Christmas Sara," he whispered as he handed her the silver box.
She blushed when she looked at the contents of the box. "Thank you Griss, it's really beautiful."
"It will be even more beautiful under that dress of yours…" he whispered seductively before capturing her lips with his.
Jim Brass hated Christmas, so the invitation to the annual dinner did anything but thrill him. He'd read the letter over and over again, looking for some loop, so he could make up an excuse, but he found none.
'Teambuilding, yeah right,' he thought as he re-read Atwater's words. 'Well at least the no partner things isn't going to be a problem.' He grabbed his scotch from the table as he threw the letter through the room. He didn't hate Christmas in particular, no, he hated Christmas because he had to spend those happy days all by himself.
No, that wasn't true. He usually spent Christmas among his friends from the lab and the police department. Atwater had been right, his work was his family.
Somehow that thought saddened him, had he really become like that? A man, who saw his work as his family? A man, without bonds to his really family? Yes, that was what he was. It had been years since he'd had a decent Christmas, among his brothers and sisters. And he couldn't even remember the last time he'd seen Ellie at Christmas.
He let out a deep sigh as he downed the glass of scotch at once. Hopefully Gil wasn't coming this year either, so they could hang out together, just like they'd done for a few years. He grabbed his cell phone and dialled the familiar number.
"Hey Gil it's me," he spoke as Grissom picked up his phone. "You got that wonderful letter in the mail today as well?"
At Grissom's reply his eyes widened a bit. "You're going?" He sighed. "Well, then I think I'll actually come as well, I don't feel like sitting home alone… yes you too… bye."
After putting the phone back he ran a hand over his face. 'Great.'
"You're going down man," Nick yelled to Greg, the remote of the X-box clasped tightly in his hands. "I'm gonna getcha, you will never beat me," he ranted on, not noticing Greg wasn't playing anymore.
Meanwhile Greg had been walking to his door to retrieve the mail. His eyes widened when he saw the LVPD envelope between the others. He opened it quickly and read the letter. "Dude," he spoke up, walking back into the living room. "Nick!" He said, with a raised voice, causing Nick to quickly pause the came.
"Hey, where'd you come from man?" Nick asked as he looked up at Greg. "The one minute your car is so close behind me that I can feel my ass burning, and then all of a sudden it's gone."
" 'As you all know it's time again for our annual Christmas party,' " Greg quoted before sitting down next to Nick and continued to read the letter aloud.
"No partners?" He whined. "So I won't be allowed to take my girlfriend? Darn, last year it was allowed."
Nick chuckled and patted his friend on the back. "Poor Greggo, you'll get over it. You have two Christmas days to spend with her."
Greg smiled brightly. "You're right. How about you?"
"What about me?" Nick asked, his eyebrows raised.
Greg laughed loudly as he looked at Nick. "You don't get it? If we're not allowed to take partners, that means you won't have to worry about Mandy taking her boyfriend with her."
"She broke up with him two weeks ago. Wait, what are you talking about?" Nick inquired.
Greg laughed even harder as he jumped off from the couch, out of the arm-range of his friend. "Man you've got it bad," he said as he waved with the letter. "You know Warrick and me made a bet over it."
Nick frowned. "Warrick would never make a bet if it involved me."
Greg chuckled. "Yes he would. He said it would be Mandy to make the first move on you, because you're too much of a coward to ask her for yourself."
"What?!" Nick yelled as he rushed to his feet, grabbing Greg's shoulder. "So that means you think I'll make a move on her?"
"Yep," Greg said in a small voice, sounding somewhat afraid. "At that dinner to be specific."
Nick released his younger friends' shoulder. "Hmmm, alright." He thought for a moment. "But you have to help me, man I'd never thought I'd ask this of you, but you have to help me pick my clothes."
Greg whooped, shaking his fist in the air, but quieted down when he saw Nick's glare. "Right, uhm… well we'd have to find you a good tux, tomorrow. There's not much time left man."
Nick nodded, this was going to be a dinner to remember, he thought with a smile.
TBC