Hi, friends. I couldn't help myself. I just love them so much and wanted to contribute more to their happy ending.


It's a beautiful night, the air is cool, the moon is bright, and, oh... they're looking for bugs again.

"Gil! Come here. Look at this!

Gil rushes over to where Sara is standing. He shines a flashlight on what she's pointing to, a branch of a tree with the butterfly in question. "Look, it's a Empress Leilia. We were just talking about that!"

"Yes, yes we were," Gil says, beaming at Sara, his ex-wife, his new girlfriend, the love of his life. "That is indeed an Empress Leilia. I've never seen one up close before. It is truly stunning."

"I'm so glad we got to see it. It makes being in Texas on New Year's Eve worth it."

"Being any place with you is worth it, my dear," Grissom says, and Sara grins. They've only been back together for three months now, but it feels like they've never been apart. This is how it's supposed to be. This is how it always will be.

Sara has to be back at work in a few days, so they're enjoying the vacation in Texas while they still can. It was Sara's idea to go to the butterfly sanctuary in Dallas at the Texas Discovery Gardens, and Grissom's to try to get in at night. They can do this because of Sara's flexible schedule. Before she left to sail into the sunset with Gil, she spoke to Catherine and Ecklie together.

"Look, I came up with a plan, and it may be absolutely ridiculous, but..."

"Let's hear it, Sara," Ecklie had said. "I don't want to pressure you into the supervisor position, but I do actually need to know if you're taking it or not.

Gahh. Even the more mellow version of Ecklie was still so impatient.

"If it's okay with Catherine... I'd like to institute a plan where we have one month on, one month off, and we switch it out. So Catherine can take over today, and in a month, I will take her place. That would give us both an opportunity to spend time with our family and pursue other interests."

Sara was pretty sure at the time that Gil wouldn't leave again, even if she did become the workaholic supervisor he had always been. But she wanted time to explore the world with him; she wanted to spend every moment possible with Gil Grissom. Because she thought she lost him forever, and now she knows their lives together were just beginning.

Catherine nodded. "I actually... love that plan. I would like to see Lindsey grow here in the lab, and I would also like to take time off to pursue my other interests. Let's do it, Sara."

The two of them grinned at each other and shook hands. Ecklie looked like he wanted to walk off a cliff, due to the extra headache of figuring out schedules and how the paychecks would work. But he just said, "Fine. That's not the ideal situation, but I do not want to lose you two. So... fine. Talk to HR and work it out."

Catherine and Sara hugged Ecklie, and he said, "Okay, that's enough, ladies," but he was actually smiling for once.

So while Sara works, Grissom writes. And gets in his boat. And so many other little hobbies he's picked up. And when Sara has her month off, they spend as much time together as possible, which is how they found themslves at a butterfly sanctuary in Dallas, in the dark of night, on New Year's Eve. She doesn't know how he convinced the people in charge to let them do this, but she's grateful. So grateful. At the beginning of the year, no matter how hard she tried to get over this man, no matter how many other dates she went on or how hard she worked, Sara could not get Gil Grissom out of her system. She really thought he was gone for good. So to be searching for bugs with him at the end of the year is so special, and somewhat surreal.

Of course, she did spend about two or three years being so mad at him she couldn't stand it, and things between them are not always easy after getting back together. Sometimes... sometimes she doesn't quite trust him. Gil makes sure he tells her how much he missed her, and how much he loves her, and they make plans for the future all the time, but that's the easy part. The hard part is keeping the promises. The hard part is keeping Grissom's feet on the ground when he wants to rise up to the sky. Only time will tell, and they have their work cut out for them. But for now... she loves this man with a renewed energy, and she wants to show him how much every second they're together.

The two of them walk around the sanctuary, hand in hand, and spot more and more butterflies and weird little bugs that Grissom gets excited about. Gil's little boy excitement has always rubbed off on Sara, to where she loves going on bug adventures with him just as much as he does.

"Oooh, this one's pretty," Grissom says, and shines his flashlight on a colorful butterfly. "It's a Ruby-spotted Swallowtail. Not so rare, but still beautiful."

"Wow," Sara says, and lays her hand out. As if on cue, the butterfly flies to her hand and rests there for a moment. She looks at Gil, who is beaming majestically.

"Maybe we should get married... again," Gil blurts out, and Sara almost drops the Ruby-spotted Swallowtail.

Instead of blurting out something herself, Sara smiles like she expected this to happen (she didn't) and says, "Okay. Let's do it."

The two of them are able to kiss this time, unencumbered by beekeeper helmets. The butterfly flies away. Sara is still grinning.

"And I was thinking about something else, too... what we've talked about before, actually." Gil says. It's dark, and the moon is the only light shining down on them, but Sara can tell he's looking at her fondly and sincerely.

"Oh, yeah? What's that?" Sara asks nervously.

"I... think maybe we should look very seriously into adoption. I've gotten some of the papers, and I've been looking into it, and I think... I think it's time."

Sara almost screams into the night with happiness. She had come to terms with never becoming a mother a long time ago, because she and Gil had the same fight every single time whenever it came up. But now he's ready? Now? Sara supposes that Grissom had to go through something to arrive at this point, but he's here now. They'll be older parents, and it will be fine, because they have so much experience to share with a child.

"Oh, Gil... of course. Of course I want to do that with you. I always have." She can't stop smiling.

"So that's a yes, I take it?" He knows it's a yes, the big idiot.

"Yes," Sara says. "I can't wait."

"Neither can I," Grissom says. They kiss-a lot-and then hold hands and continue exploring. A few minutes later, the clock strikes twelve, and it's a new year. Sara knows it's more than that, though-it's a new beginning, and a new life.