AN: Thanks for the reviews, and the support. Here is the next chapter.


Chapter 2: Something Wrong?

The next morning

After Sara and Grissom woke up and got out of bed the next morning, they made breakfast. Then by the time they were done, and the food was placed in the middle of the kitchen table, they heard the kids coming, which included 16 year old Lindsey since she's been with the them the past two weeks.

When breakfast was done, the twins wanted to go to the park, so to spend time with them, Grissom offered to take them, along with the older girls and Hank, while Sara to stayed behind so she could start packing. But since they hadn't told the kids what the plan was yet, she didn't tell them what she was doing. She just used her staying behind under the disguise that it was daddy's time with them without mommy, which the twins believed her, but Bailey, now 17 with a slim build and not much shorter than her mother, was a little more skeptical because she had witnessed a few looks at the breakfast table between her parents, so she felt that something more was going on.

So anybody who knew her, knew that she would be asking questions soon, and she did a few minutes after the family made it to the park once she made sure Lindsey had an eye on the twins.

Father and Daughter smiled at one another before she sat down on the bench next to him, then when she was settled, she cleared her throat before finally asking. "Ok. What's going on?" He looked over at her, but before he could speak, she continued. "And don't tell me there isn't. There was something between you and mom at breakfast."

Grissom smiled while mentally shaking his head at her impeccable awareness, which has only strengthen through the years, then he looked over towards the playground as he told her. "Your mom has decided to go back to Vegas."

She gasped a little in shock before asking in a concern voice. "Are you...Are you guys ok?"

He turned his head immediately to look at his oldest, seeing a worried look on her face, before placing his hand over hers while giving her a reassuring smile. "It's nothing like that, sweetie. Our relationship is solid, I promise." He saw the relief wash over her as he continued. "The team needs her, and she's ready to get back into working."

She nodded in understanding, even smirking while replying. "Well, you didn't expect her to not go back to work, did you?"

Grissom chuckled while he shook his head. "I knew it was only a matter of time. She loves what she does too much to fully let it go now."

Bailey nodded again before looking at him softly. "She also loves this family, especially you dad, and nothing is going to change that."

This time his eyes softened as he squeezed her hand. "I know that."

She took a moment before asking. "What's going to happen now?"

He cleared his throat before replying. "She'll be taking the twins and leaving with you and Lindsey, and I'll be with you guys in three months."

Bailey nodded again as she squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry dad. I know how much you've enjoyed and loved it here, especially teaching."

He used his free hand to cup her cheek while replying with love in his eyes. "I only enjoyed it here because I was with my family and they were happy here, and as for teaching? I can do that anywhere someone wants me."

She smiled with tears in her eyes, then she cleared her throat before asking. "Maybe UNLV?"

He smirked. "Why? So there is a chance I could be your teacher?"

Bailey smirked back. "Maybe."

He chuckled while shaking his head. "You know if I ever become your teacher, you won't be getting special treatment from me."

Bailey shook her head before replying in a serious tone. "I never would have expected that." She placed her free hand over his hand that was on her cheek as she continued. "I'm going to miss you though. Home won't be the same without you."

He ran his thumb up and down her cheek with a nod. "I know sweetie, but it won't be forever, I promise. Once school is done for the holidays, I'm out of there and back home to my family for good." Bailey just nodded in response to that.

After Grissom removed his hand from her cheek, he turned his head toward the playground while Bailey laid her head on his shoulder as she placed her hand on his wrist. He smiled as he covered her hand with his left one, then sighed in content.

She took a few minutes to look at her siblings, Lindsey and Hank before speaking again with a smile. "Since you'll be here alone for a little bit, I can leave Hank here to keep you company."

He chuckled while shaking his head before kissing the top of her head. "Sorry, but no. He'll be whining at the door the whole time, and I don't think I could deal with that for three months."

It was no secret that Hank was attached to Bailey the moment Grissom placed him in her arms, so if she was gone from his presence for long periods of time, they could find him whining by the front door, and it only got worse if the twins were gone too, and there was no way he could handle that. The kids had certainly adopted him as their own, and really vise versa.

She smiled as she removed her head from his shoulder before blue eyes were connected with blue eyes as she replied with a smirk. "Well, he was my present, so can you really blame him?"

Grissom smiled with another shake of the head. "I guess not." She smiled in return before he leaned forward and kissed her forehead, then as he was pulling back, a little hand started tugging on his hand while a small voice was heard. "Pway daddy."

Grissom turned his attention from his oldest daughter to his youngest one before smiling at her. "You want me to play with you? I thought you were having so much fun with Lindsey."

Unlike her older sister, Megan was looking more like Sara everyday, from the brown eyes to the brown hair, and even her smile, which was something Grissom was very happy with. While his son looked more like him and his older sister.

Her eyes were bright as she tugged on his hand again. "Yoo too, daddy, pwease?"

Then once she used those sad puppy eyes, which he could swear she already knew that look could get her anything she asked for, he chuckled with nod. "Alright, let's go."

Bailey removed her hand from her father before Grissom picked up Megan as he stood up, but before he took a step forward, Megan spoke over Grissom's shoulder. "You too sissy."

Bailey nodded with a smile as she stood up from the bench. "Thank you honey for including me."

As they started heading toward the play set, Megan replied with a smile. "Yoo welcoom."

Grissom and Bailey chuckle before Grissom mentally sighed as Megan wrapped her arms around his neck. He was really going to miss these moments with his kids.


Later that Night

After saying goodnight to the family, Bailey and Lindsey retreated to her room, and as they started packing Bailey's things in boxes, Lindsey looked over at her best friend. "You want to talk about it?"

Bailey smiled as she placed the books that she had in her hand in a small box before looking over at Lindsey from across the room. "Maybe you are the one that should be a CSI."

Lindsey smiled bigger." Wouldn't that be cool? Us working together, solving crimes and locking the bad guys up?"

Bailey nodded with the smile still on her face. "It actually would be, so you should really consider it."

Before meeting Bailey, Lindsey wasn't a real fan of her mother's work. It wasn't that she disliked her mom helping families get closure, she just knew that it keep her away from her for long periods of time, which was something she resented, and now felt ashamed about it.
But after meeting her best friend, and seeing how completely fascinated she was of the CSI world, especially the science and puzzle part of it, it was kind of growing on her too. But she wasn't sure if it was something she'll pursue yet.

Lindsey mentally shook her head before replying with another smile. "Maybe. I would like to give that a little more thought." As Bailey nodded, Lindsey continued. "So, what's going on?" Bailey took a breath as she started walking toward her bed, which Lindsey followed her so she could sit down next to her.

Then as Bailey looked down at her hands, she replied. "My mom wants to go back to work, so she's leaving with us. But my dad has to stay here for at least three more months because he had already signed up to teach classes until the holidays."

Lindsey took a moment before saying. "Wow, really?"

Bailey nodded as she looked over at her. "Yeah. That's what I thought too."

Lindsey took a second before asking the hard question. "You think something is wro..."

Bailey cuts her of with the shake of her head. "No, my parents are solid, which was confirmed by dad earlier, so I'm not worried about that."

Lindsey took another second before replying. "But you are worried that something could go wrong?"

Bailey took another breath before continuing. "I think apart of me will always be a little afraid of that. As much as I want to push that out of my mind I can't help it." Then she finished after looking at Lindsey again with a smile. "But the other part of me, the larger part knows how deeply my parents not only love one another, but really care what the other wants. They have a bond that is so strong, I don't think three months away from one another is going to shake it."

Lindsey then chimed in with the positives. "And it isn't like they couldn't chat, or maybe even sneak in a few visits here and there."

"Yeah." She then took a breath before finishing. "So that's where I am, deciding what part of me I should trust more."

Lindsey nodded as she continued after placing her hand over her best friend's. "You know what Bay?" She continued after a second. "Go with the larger part of your thinking. I think if anybody can get through it, I bet on them, hands down."

Bailey nodded a second later. "I think I will, I mean this is Sara and Grissom, right?" Lindsey chuckled with a nod as Bailey continued with a smile. "They can get through anything they set their minds to, and they already beat the odds just by being together. I'm sure it won't be easy, but at the end, when they are together again for good, that's all that will matter."

Lindsey nodded again as she squeezed her best friend's hand. "See, there you go."

Bailey then brought her friend into a hug. "Thank you."

She chuckled as she hugged her back. "You would have gotten to that thinking eventually."

As they pulled back, Bailey nodded. "Yeah, but you helped get it there faster. You saved me hours from over-thinking it, probably to death, so really thank you."

"You're welcome."

After one more smile, they got off the bed and continued on their task of packing, and when Lindsey looked over at her friend, she had a much more relaxed face since she was happy with the conclusion her thoughts had taken her.

Like what Bailey said, she knew it wasn't going to be easy for the family, but like what she said, she'll put money on Sara and Grissom getting through this. Nobody could bring those two down when they were on the same page working for the same goal, and that was a fact she'll live by.


Sara was sitting up in bed, reading a book when her husband came into the room, so when she felt his presence, she looked up, but saw his sad face. "What's wrong?"

He sits down at the end of the bed with a heavy sigh. "I'm just going to miss reading to the twins every night."

Reading them to sleep at night was his special time with them, especially during the school year since he was gone most of the day.

Sara places her book on the nightstand a few seconds later before getting off the bed. "I have an idea."

Grissom watched her walk into the closet before walking back out after a few minutes, holding their camcorder, and when she stopped in front of him, she continued. "I know it won't be the same on any of you, but you can record yourself reading some of their favorite stories, and I can play it when it's bed time, when of course you can't Skype."

Grissom stood up from the end of the bed so they were no face to face, then he smiled as he cupped her cheek. "What a wonderful idea. No, it isn't the same, but as long as it gets them to sleep, I'll do it. Thank you."

"No problem." She nodded with a small smile before it dimmed again. "I just know I'll have to watch it at times too."

He looked at her sadly as he sighed. "Sara..."

Before he could get the words out, Sara shook her head as she placed a finger to his lips. "Don't. I'm not blaming you, ok?" As he nodded, she removed her finger from his lips to cup his cheek. "You wouldn't be the man I fell in love with if you broke your commitments."

He was about to talk, but she spoke again before he could. "And yes I know, your biggest commitment is to me and the kids, I'm not questioning that. Nor, have I since we've been together. But those others that come up in life should matter too, and I don't want you to feel guilty about honoring them."

She took a breath, and sat the camcorder down on the bed before wrapping her arms around his neck while he wrapped his arms around her waist as she continued with love and devotion in her eyes and tone. "So, let's make deal. From her on out no more sulking, ok? We are just going to spend as much time as we can. Then suck it up and deal with the situation the best we can. Besides..." She smiled bigger as she leans toward him. "What's three months, when we have forever."

His smile was cut off when her lips touched his in a soft kiss, and when they pulled back, he brought her closer to him, then took a breath while placing his chin on her shoulder, knowing Sara was right.

It was time to concentrate on the here and now so he doesn't miss a moment with his family while they were in front of him, because he knew all those memories they'll make will be what carries him through this time apart.


AN: Next chapter: Sara and Grissom spend a night to themselves their last night together in Paris before her and the kids leave. Please review.

*On a side note, when I thought of Bailey's comment to Lindsey about being a CSI, that was before I knew that Lindsey was going to be one for the Series Finale, so I thought that was kind of cool.